Altered Destinies
by DreamNZ
Summary: Xover with Inuyasha. Before they even know who the other's alter ego is, Serena and Darien land in the Feudal Era and begin a whole new adventure. Complete
1. Prolouge

Hey all! This is a Sailor Moon/Inuyasha crossover! This is my first attempt at writing a crossover, so please bear with me. I'm trying!

There may be some OCC here, some of it is intentional, some of it isn't. The intentional OCC will be explained away at a later date… it's all apart of the story plot.

Disclaimer for rest of story: I do not own Sailor Moon or Inuyasha. K? 

______________________

The day had started off normal enough. Serena had woken up late, made a mad dash to school where she was late and had gotten detention. Of course she had also had her normal run in with Darien. Except today he had been reading a book, and she had rammed into the hard cover at full speed, crashing to the ground instantly. She managed to get herself up and running again but her head was pounding too hard and the world spinning too fast to exchange harsh words. To make matters worse she had been too late to eat breakfast and had forgotten her lunch. During lunch break no one had any food to spare her. During gym they were playing volleyball where she got a ball spiked straight to her forehead, aggravating the bruise from Darien's book.

After detention she was supposed to meet her mother at the dentist, which required her to take a bus. Paying no attention she had jumped onto the wrong bus and was now wandering around, lost in an unfamiliar section of Tokyo. All in all, she was having a really bad day.

"Meatball Head?"

And it got worse.


	2. Chapter One

"Meatball Head?" Darien repeated. "What are you doing here?"

Groan. "I'm lost okay? I got on the wrong bus and now I'm lost. Happy?" she yelled at him.

"Woah! Bad mood."

"Well I'm having a bad day!" She snapped at him. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"I had a study session with someone from a class who lives around here. I was about to head home. Want to walk with me?"

"Walk?" Serena said in despair. "You didn't drive? And why not take a bus back?"

"I went home with the guy from class, so I didn't have to drive. And I like walking. It's only about five miles from my place anyways."

"Five miles!" Serena shrieked, but calmed down a few seconds later with a sigh. "All right."

"When we get to my apartment I'll give you a ride home, okay?" he offered.

"Okay, thank you," she accepted with a smile.

They began the long walk back in silence, no sure of what to say.

"Uh, were you okay this morning after our run in?" Darien asked. "You hit me pretty hard."

"Yeah, I was after awhile. I was just dizzy for a bit."

"Looks like you got a bruise from it."

"No, actually, I got this after a volleyball slammed into me," she confessed with a blush.

"You really did have a bad day, huh?"

"Told you." She was secretly pleased that he did not tease her as she was sure he was going to.

They continued along in silence until Serena spotted something interesting.

"Look, a temple."

Darien looked at where she was pointing. Sure enough, a temple stood at the top of a hill.

"Want to check it out?"

"Really?!"

"Yeah, lets go." He barely hid the pleasure he felt at how she had brightened up.

They reached the temple grounds in good time. Everything was quiet and serene.

"Very different," Serena mumbled.

"Huh?"

"Oh, I was just thinking how different this temple is from Rei's. There's always activity there. Mostly Rei yelling at Chad," she said with a grin.

"I bet. That girl has a fiery temper."

"You have no idea," she said drolly.

They looked around for a few moments, but no one appeared.

"I guess we should just go," Serena said.

"Yeah."

_Clank_. Kick. "Shit!"

Darien spun around wide eyed. He had never heard anything like that before from her mouth. Well, at least nothing that coarse. "What happened?"

"My brooch fell off and I accidentally kicked it somewhere!" Panic was evident in her voice.

Darien looked at her feet and tried to figure out where she had probably kicked it to. The trajectory line pointed right to a shed that had a convenient space at the bottom.

"Don't worry, I think I know where it went." Without thinking he grabbed her hand and pulled her along. Serena numbly followed. When they got to the shed Darien let go of her hand to open the door. They both secretly missed the warmth that came from the contact.

They stepped into the shed and found that it held naught but an old well. Darien found the brooch two seconds later and handed it to her with a grin. She grabbed it from his hand and secured it back onto her top. Then, without thinking she threw her arms around him and hugged him fiercely, intending to thank him. He was so shocked that he took a step backwards, right into the wall of the well. Serena overbalanced him and before they knew it they were both falling.


	3. Chapter Two

"Ouff." Serena and Darien said at the same time as they landed on the dirt floor, Serena on top of Darien. Serena scrambled up right away, but Darien was too dazed to get up immediately.

"Are you okay?" Serena asked.

"I will be as soon as I can breathe again," he returned dryly.

"Shut up and get up."

Darien opened his eyes for the first time and looked up.

"Oh, shit," he spurted out.

"What? Are you hurt?" she asked, concerned.

"Look up," came the strained reply.

"What? I know we're at the bottom of a well you idiot!"

"LOOK UP!" he all but yelled.

Serena's head snapped back at the tone of his voice. "Whaa…???" Was all that she could get out.

She knew full well that the well had been _inside_ a shed. What she saw when she looked up was blue sky broken up only by leafy branches of trees.

Serena lowered her head a little to look at Darien, who had stood up by then. "What happened?"

"I don't know. Maybe the shed collapsed. Let's just climb up and see."

Serena groaned at the thought of climbing the steep walls.

"Please tell me you can climb this!" Darien said.

"I, uh," Serena thought for a moment. Maybe if she managed to get out of the well Darien would refrain from blaming her for this incident. "Yeah, I can," she said with a nod and a confidence she definitely did not feel.

"Good. I'll go first and help you where I can."

Darien nimbly started scaling the walls making use of the vines that grew down.

'Come on girl, you're Sailor Moon. You can do this!'

With a sigh Serena followed, albeit a bit slower.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Five minutes later Darien pulled Serena out of the well, saving her from having to pull herself up the last few feet.

"What took you so long?"

"Half way up I slipped and fell to the bottom," she answered glumly.

He could not seem to help himself. One second he was fighting back a chuckle and the next he was laughing uproariously.

Serena ignored him while she looked around at her surroundings. No shed, no temple, no house. No sign of civilization anywhere. She tried waiting patiently for Darien to calm down, but it seemed useless. Finally she lost her patients.

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP AND TELL ME WHERE WE ARE?!!"

Darien stopped in mid-laughter and winced at the decibel level. He too had noticed their surroundings, or lack thereof.

"I don't know, I'm sorry. Maybe we should…" he was unable to finish his sentence because he saw a blur of red heading their way. The blur was leaping form tree to tree and then to the ground in front of them.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" A voice growled. Darien saw the terrified look on Serena's face, and so almost fearfully turned so he too could see.

There stood a boy of no more than eighteen, if he could be called a boy. On top of his head stood two ears and on his hands were claws opposed to nails. His eyes were of a golden shade, and had an angry sheen to them. A fiercely angry sheen. On instinct Darien pulled Serena behind him and stared down the person in front of him. He was about to tell him that they did not know why they were there, but he did not get a chance for a pair of hands appeared over the edge of the well. Before the hands could pull themselves up, the boy in one swift motion pulled what proved to be a girl out of the well and forcibly placed her behind him.

"Inuyasha? What's going on?" the girl asked, confused as to why there were two people from her time standing before her friend.

"I don't know, you tell me, wench. They came from your time," Inuyasha growled out.

"Excuse me?" the girl said indignantly, stepping out from behind Inuyasha. "Why is it automatically my fault?! AND STOP CALLING ME WENCH!"

Serena stepped out from behind Darien to watch the spectacle, no longer afraid because she recognized the uniform the girl was wearing.

Inuyasha now turned to Kagome, temporarily ignoring the strangers.

"It's your fault because it's your well! WENCH!"

"Ooo! SITSITSITSIT!"

Darien and Serena looked on amazed as Inuyasha was magically slammed into the ground four times.

"Woah… how did you do that?" Serena piped up.

Kagome turned to them in surprise but immediately calmed down. "It's the rosary around his neck. When I say the magic word, he's immobilized for obvious reasons." She looked down as the dog-demon was struggling to stand up.

"I would love to get some of those for Darien," Serena said in wonderment.

"In your dreams, Meatball Head."

"Don't call me that Jerk-Face!"

It was now Kagome and a now standing Inuyasha's turn to stare at them.

"Ooo, you hurt me lame-brain."

"Clumsy!"

"Who's calling who clumsy?!"

"Hey, I wasn't the one that tripped us into another world!"

"You PUSHED ME!"

"I DID NOT! I was trying to hug you! Maybe if you weren't repulsed by human touch we wouldn't be here!"

"I am NOT repulsed by human touch. Just YOURS!"

"SHUT UP!" Inuyasha yelled, ears pressed flat against his head due to the noise.

Darien saw the hurt in Serena's eyes from his last comment before they were startled by the dog-demon. He regretted the words immediately, he knew he had gone too far.

"Now now, Inuyasha, be nice," a new voice said.

Serena turned around and saw two people approaching them. One was a man in monk garb and the other was a pretty girl with a board strapped to her back. The next thing she knew the monk hand her hands in his and was staring intensely into her eyes.

"Especially to such a beautiful goddess as this."

Serena flushed a deep red. So did Darien, but for a different reason.

BONK!

The monk let go of Serena's hands to ruefully rub his head. Serena looked behind him and saw the pretty girl reattaching the board to her back.

"Miruko," the girl growled at the monk warningly. She then turned to Serena and smiled. "Don't let the monk outfit fool you, Miruko is actually a lecher in disguise." Serena gave a timid smile back.

"Hey, you go to Jubban, don't you?"

Serena turned to Kagome and nodded. "And you go to Narita* right?"

"Yeah, when I'm not here. I'm Kagome, by the way. This is Inuyasha. He's half-human, half-demon. You've met Miruko. That's Sango." Kagome pointed to each person as she named them. They gave a smile and a nod as they were named, except for Inuyasha who just glared, arms crossed.

"Hi, I'm Serena, this is Darien. Where is here?" She got right to the point.

"Feudal Japan. About 500 years in our past."

Serena and Darien looked at her, jaws dropped in disbelief.

"F-f-five hundred years?" Serena stuttered.

"Feudal Japan?" Darien mused, trying to clear his head. "Oh no, we're not staying here! How do we get back?" He seemed to know something he did not like.

"The well." Kagome nodded to the mentioned well.

"Just jump in?" Kagome nodded. He turned to Serena. "Do you want me to go first?" She nodded. Without a second thought or a good bye he jumped into the well. Kagome leaned over to look in.

"He didn't go through," she said.

A few minutes later he climbed back up, a defeated look on his face. He turned to Serena. "I didn't make it, but maybe you will."

Serena looked at the well. "Uh uh. I already did that once, I'm not climbing out of that again."

"Yes you are."

"You can't make me!"

"You're going in there if I have to drop you in!" Serena did not doubt the fierce look in his eyes. With a gulp she too let herself down into the well. Five minutes later she arrived back at the top, panting. "Damn." Darien turned and looked at Kagome. "Is there any other way?"

"If I jump down with you, it may work." She saw Darien motion towards Serena with his eyes. Kagome felt sorry for Serena, but did as he requested. Serena was sitting on the edge of the well, her feet dangling in, so it was just a matter of grabbing her wrist and pulling her down as she jumped.

"Arg! What was that for? Now I've got to climb up _again_," Serena wailed.

"Sorry!" Kagome said, trying to calm her down. "It was best to just get it over with."

Serena stopped wailing and nodded. "I guess you're right." She looked up and sighed. "We're still here though." Kagome looked up, sure enough she saw the blue sky.

"I guess you're stuck here for awhile then." She saw the panicked look on Serena's face. "It's not so bad here, and I'm sure we'll find a way for you to get home soon." She flashed Serena a smile. "Now come on, let's get out of here."

With a sigh Serena started back up. She looked up and saw that Kagome was already halfway up. It took her several more minutes to reach the top.

"I'm NOT doing that again!" Serena said, panting. She sat down with her back against the well. By the time Darien and Kagome had climbed out from their try, she was breathing normally.

"And so we're stuck," Darien said with a sigh, none too happy.

"Why were you unhappy when you learned where you are?" Miroku asked.

"Because I know my history," Darien replied but would say no more.

"My parents are going to start worrying soon," Serena said sadly.

"Do you want me to bring them a message?" Kagome asked.

Serena shook her head. "I don't know where they would be right now. But maybe you could bring one to my friends?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course." Kagome dug into her backpack and found a pen and a piece of paper and handed them to Serena. She offered to do them same for Darien, but he just shook his head.

After thinking for a few moments, Serena began to write.

'Girls,

I'm sorry I missed the meeting, but I have a really good excuse! I just can't tell you it, not directly anyways. I've gotten caught up in something and will be gone for who knows how long. Don't bother looking for me, because I don't think I can be found. I'll try to make it home soon, but again, I don't know how long it will take. Show my parents this note and tell them not to worry. (I'll be fine Mom and Dad, please_ don't worry, I'm fine and I'm with friends.)_

Well, at least I get to miss school. Love you and take care,

Serena

P.S. Darien got sucked into this thing too, so don't worry about him either. (Don't get mad Rei, believe me, it wasn't my choice!)'

Serena handed the note to Kagome. "Read that and tell me if it reveals too much."

Kagome quickly scanned the note. "It looks good. Who do I bring it to?"

"Downtown there is an arcade called Crown Arcade. It's not too hard to find. It's on the main road about half a mile away from my school." Kagome nodded, she had an idea where it was. "Inside the arcade in the very back booth will be three girls. One will have short blue hair and will be reading a book. Another will have medium length brown hair tied up in a pony tail and she will be trying to calm down the third girl, a very angry girl with long black hair. Put the note on the table and get away as fast as possible and lose yourself in a crowd. If you don't, they'll hunt you down and try to get more information from you. Okay?"

"I think I got it. I'll be back in half an hour, an hour tops." With that she disappeared down the well.

_______________

*Sorry, I don't know the name of the school that Kagome goes to. Narita is the airport by Tokyo. It's a very nice airport too! :) (Had a 7 hour layover there once.)


	4. Chapter Three

Well, here's Chapter Three!! Just a warning… I'm assuming since I'm posting this in the Sailor Moon section that more people will be familiar with Sailor Moon than Inuyasha, so I kind of explain some things about (the show) Inuyasha in this chapter. If you already are familiar with the show, then you can skip over those parts. :) If you do plan on reading the parts, I must warn you I *really* cut the story down, for the sake of time.

Sadie Joyce Myst Lady: Yay, you're my first reviewer (and second!)! Thank you!! :) 

I forgot to mention this before hand, but yes, all couples will be traditional. 

Err… yeah, I flew from Narita to Detroit and it was a *long* flight! It wasn't too bad though, I was sitting next to this cute old Japanese guy who kept on feeding me these… things. I'm not sure what they were, but they were good!

I'm babbling, I know. I apologize! On with the story!!

______________________

Kagome returned in forty-five minutes. While she was gone Serena, Darien, Sango and Miroku had sat around in relative silence, neither pair sure of what to say to the other. Inuyasha had disappeared to a tree to impatiently wait for Kagome's return.

"I'm back," Kagome said with a grin once she had returned. "Boy Serena, you sure know your friends. They were exactly as you described them."

"Yeah, they're pretty predictable," Serena said with a grin.

"What had the black haired girl so fired up?"

"That I wasn't there. I'm normally late for get-togethers, and Rei gets angry when I do." Serena shrugged. "She has a violent temper, but underneath it all she has a good soul."

"Yeah, well all the same I wouldn't want to anger her!" Kagome said. She was about to say more, but a loud grumbling interrupted her.

"Sorry," Serena blushed. "I haven't eaten all day."

"Hard to believe."  


"Shut up Darien!"

"We should get Lady Serena some food then," Miroku interrupted before an argument could ensue. "Pretty girls should not go hungry."

Serena blushed. Kagome and Sango rolled their eyes. Darien glared. Miroku caught the glare and gulped.

"Come on, there's a village not far from here where we stay," Kagome said. She began leading the way. Serena caught up with her.

"What is all of this Kagome? Why are you here? Why does the well allow you to come here?"

"Long stories are best told when eating," Kagome said with a grin.

"All right." Serena's stomach grumbled again. "Don't mention food right now."

Kagome laughed.

The group spent the rest of their walk in amiable silence. Serena and Darien were too busy taking in their new surroundings to talk much anyways.

They reached the village in good time. Serena and Darien were introduced to Kaede and their short story was told. They also met Shippou and Kirara, the two full demons of the group. Kagome made a big batch of Ramen and soon they were all well fed and sitting in a circle, staring at each other.

"Well, now is as good a time as ever to tell you why I'm here," Kagome said.

Serena sat through the whole story silently. The story was unbelievable, but she was forced to believe it. All the same, it was an interesting one.

On her fifteenth birthday Kagome had entered the shed that held the well in order to retrieve her cat for her brother, who was too scared of the well to do it himself. She got pulled into the well by a centipede-demon who claimed that Kagome had a jewel called the Shikon Jewel. She managed to escape the demon but ended up in the Feudal Era. She had been drawn to tree that looked familiar where she found a young boy attached to the tree by an arrow. The boy was Inuyasha. 

She was interrupted by a flurry of arrows from the village men, who took her to the village elder, Kaede. Kaede saw a resemblance in Kagome to her sister who was killed fifty years ago, and so took her home. Kagome was told that Inuyasha had been attached to the tree for fifty years also. While they talked though the same demon that had pulled Kagome into the well attacked the village. Kagome knew that the demon was after her, so she ran towards the forest to lure it away from the village. But she could not run fast enough. She called out for help as the demon closed in on her. Inuyasha awoke, but could not escape the arrow.

The villagers managed to restrain the demon, but it was Kagome who injured her, mysteriously blowing off all her arms. It did not kill the demon though, for she slashed at Kagome with her teeth and out from the wound in her side came the jewel. The demon ate the jewel and regenerated, becoming stronger. She pinned Kagome onto the tree using her long body, but she happened to pin Kagome onto Inuyasha at the same time. Inuyasha told Kagome that he could kill the demon, but she would have to pull out the arrow. She figured her choices were either death or pulling out the arrow, so pull out the arrow she did.

Once released, Inuyasha killed the demon in no time and Kagome retrieved the jewel from the body before it could regenerate again. Then Inuyasha threatened to kill Kagome if she did not give him the Shikon Jewel. She had no choice but to run. He probably would have gotten her if Kaede had not shown up and attached the rosary to Inuyasha's neck. The same rosary that crashes him to the ground whenever "sit" is said by Kagome. Therefore, Kagome could prevent him from harming her.

The next day the jewel was stolen from Kagome by a bird-demon. She attempted to shoot it down with a bow and arrow, but failed. Inuyasha attacked it and ripped it to shreds, but it began to regenerate because it had swallowed the jewel before Inuyasha had reached it. Kagome grabbed a clawed foot that was nearby and attached it to an arrow. She shot at the bird, and since the foot was drawn to the bird due to regeneration, the demon was hit. The bird-demon was killed, but the jewel had been directly hit by the arrow and was shattered. The shards flew off into all different directions. Since then she and Inuyasha had been trying to gather the shards again, making new friends along the way but also new enemies.

Serena knew that Kagome had told just a small percentage of her story. The closeness she sensed between Kagome and Inuyasha differed dramatically from the story she had just told. But there would be plenty of time later to hear more.

"What do you tell your family when you're here?" Serena asked.

Kagome gave her a strange look. "They know I'm here, of course. I couldn't just keep something this big from them. Besides, I need them to give excuses to my school," she grinned.

"Don't they worry about you though?"

"Of course they do. They know I fight demons, but they also know that my friends won't let anything happen to me. We all watch out for each other."

Serena nodded. "It makes sense," she said softly and then heaved a sigh. "I'll be right outside." She got up and quietly left.

"What did I say?" Kagome asked, worried.

"I don't know," Darien said, looking at the door where Serena had just left.

"These are dangerous times, someone should look after her," Miroku said, beginning to get up. His tone was serious, but his eyes betrayed his intent.

"_I'll_ keep an eye on her," Darien said, scrambling up and was out the door before the lecherous monk could even stand.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Serena walked to a clearing behind Kaede's hut and sat down, looking up at the moon. Thoughts began to tumble through her mind.

__

"Kagome told her family about the biggest thing in her life, but I can't? Sure she disappears for days at a time, but I disappear in the middle of the night all the time. If my parents were to find me gone, how could I explain? Should I tell them about being Sailor Moon? Mom would worry so much though, and Dad would freak out. Don't my friends watch out for me too though? If that could comfort Kagome's family, would it comfort mine? We watch out for each other, and Tuxedo Mask has never failed to come to my rescue. But what if he does? What if one day I die in a battle and my family finds out after my death that I was Sailor Moon? Would they hate me for not telling them? Should I tell them when I get back? Will I get back? Why am I here? What if I'm here forever? What…"

Serena shook her head, getting rid of the thought. She stretched her arms over her head and then lowered herself until she was laying in the grass, still looking up at the moon.

"Are you okay?" Serena looked up and saw Darien looking down at her.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking." She waited for the expected retort. It did not come. Instead he sat down next to her and turned his head to the moon. 

"Serena?"

"Hmm?"

"What do you say we call a truce? We're stuck here together in a different time, we probably should at least be amiable to each other."

"Okay," Serena agreed. "It will be a comfort to have someone from my own time around."

"There's Kagome," he pointed out.

"Yeah, but she's at ease here. Comfortable here. I don't know if I can be."

"I guess you're right."

Serena chuckled. "I love those words coming from you."

Darien laughed a little, but then went quiet.

"Darien?"

"Yeah?"

"What are we going to do? Do we stay here or do we go and try to help them with those jewel shards?"

"I don't know. What do you think we should do?"

Serena thought for a moment. "Go with them. I doubt Inuyasha will be happy with it, but I just have this feeling that our place is with these people, not stuck in a village."

"All right. I was feeling that way too."

They lapsed into silence again. A few minutes later Darien looked down and saw Serena curled up, sound asleep. With a soft smile he got up and picked her up. She cuddled into him in her sleep with a sigh. A slight flush graced his cheeks, but he forced it away as he headed towards the hut. 

When he entered the hut, Miruko was already asleep, Inuyasha was gone and Kagome and Sango were still up, talking. They both threw him a worried look when he walked in with Serena in his arms, but relaxed when he smiled. He put Serena down gently on the blanket set out for her, then lay down on his own blanket and promptly fell asleep.


	5. Chapter Four

Hey all! It took me less than a week to get Chapter Four up… yay! :) Hopefully I'll be able to get Chapter Five up this weekend. No promises though!! Hee hee!

****

Sadie Joyce Myst Lady: Hi! You made a good point with the crossover section… so it's up to the READERS! Do you want me to move the story over there? Vote time! :) Feel free to e-mail me with your votes. The addy is tayturtles@yahoo.com.

Anyways… I really don't know what the guy fed me, to tell you the truth. It was crispy and dry and noodley, almost.

Nope, not from Japan! From Michigan, actually. I just got stuck on a really weird flight path. I was on my way home from New Zealand (I studied abroad there for four months), and my flights went from NZ to Malaysia, Malaysia to Japan, and Japan to Detroit. 

Yeah, I know it's weird that Serena and Darien are being nice to each other, but my theory is that if they got stuck in this strange situation together then maybe they would put aside their differences and just be cordial to each other.

Kagome and Rei do look a lot a like, but I just conveniently ignore that fact in this story. :)

I wish I've seen all the Inuyasha episodes. I've seen a wide array of them, but I'm still working on the rest. Hee hee… 

****

Jabba1: Awwe thanks! I'm trying! Don't worry, I think that as long as you know the basic storyline of Inuyasha you will be able to follow the story. I've seen only a smattering of the episodes myself, so I don't have this in any specific time in the storyline. :)

****

dizzy: Hey! Glad you like it so far! I'm working on getting the chapters out faster! :)

All right! Yes, I have a smiley face obsession… leave me alone! :) See! I can't stop! It's an addiction! :) Err… going to just get going on this chapter now… It may be a little boring… sorry!

__________________________

Darien woke up and sat up straight. He had just had his normal dream where the princess begged him for the silver crystal. She got more and more urgent each night, setting him on edge for the coming day. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and tried to calm his heart down. When he opened his eyes he let them adjust to the dark and then took a look around.

Miroku lay close to Sango, but was not allowed any closer due to the cat demon that slept between them. Shippou was curled up against Kagome's stomach and she slept with a hand on top of the little fox demon. Inuyasha sat in the corner, golden eyes watching him.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Darien whispered.

"Keh. I don't need to sleep."

Darien nodded. He then turned his attention to the golden haired girl laying near him. Moonlight from the window fell on her face softly and lit up her features. He looked at her, truly looked at her, probably for the first time. Two streams of gold flowed from her. Her complexion was perfect, and he longed to touch it to see if it was as smooth as it looked. And her lips, so rosy, so kissable. He shook his head a bit to rid himself from those thoughts. She was too young, to carefree to be saddled with him and his emotional problems. Not to mention he would have to explain why he would have to leave at a moments notice to go and rescue another girl. For he was Tuxedo Mask, he had no choice but to rescue Sailor Moon, and he liked being her rescuer. No, best for her not to get involved with him, even on the off chance that she wanted to.

He lowered himself back down to his blanket and watched Serena sleep until his own eyelids lowered and he fell back asleep.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

When Darien woke again morning's light was just beginning to creep into the hut. He sat up and once again looked at the sleeping people.

Miroku and Sango still slept side-by-side but sometime during the night Kirara had left, so there was nothing to stop Sango when she rolled over. So she slept curled up next to Miroku, who had his arm draped across her waist. Kagome and Shippou were still in the same position as during the night. Inuyasha was not in sight, presumably gone from the hut. Serena, however, was now facing him, her eyes open. He smiled at her and she smiled back as she pushed herself up and stretched.

"Good morning," he whispered.

"Good morning." She paused for a moment. "So I guess it really wasn't a dream."

"Nope. Uh, want to go for a walk?"

She looked at the sleeping figures and nodded.

They walked the village streets, keeping close to the hut, just taking in the village sights. They circled around and ended up back in the field they had been the night before. Darien stopped walking and forced Serena to stop in front of him. He looked into her eyes.

"Serena, are you sure you want to go with them? You need to know that this isn't a particularly save era, this won't be an easy time while here. There are demons in this era, monsters that can hurt you, kill you even. Are you sure about this?"

Serena looked up at him. "I'm sure, Darien. I just have a feeling that our place is with them."

"All right. But promise me, if we get into a fight, you won't try to help? That you'll stay away and safe?" Serena gave him a confused look. "Hey, if anything happens to you before we get back, then I'll have your parents and three angry friends at my throat." He was grinning, but Serena could see actual fear behind it.

Serena smiled. "I promise to be careful in case of an attack." She smelled the air for a moment. "Breakfast!" With that she took off for the hut.

__

"Damn! She promised the wrong thing and she knows it!"

With a sigh he too went to the hut. When he entered he found everyone already eating, including Inuyasha. Darien had to stifle a laugh when he saw the fading slap mark on the monk's face. He sat down next to Serena and took the offered food.

"So," Kagome began after she was done eating. "are you two going to come with us or stay here?"

Before either of them could say anything, Inuyasha expressed _his_ opinion.

"No way are they coming with us! They'll just get in the way during a fight!"

"No we won't," Serena said between mouthfuls of food.

The half-demon glared at her. "We don't need defenseless humans around who can't protect themselves."

Serena looked indignant. "Excuse me?! I can very well protect myself, so don't worry about it!"

He did not look convinced, but dropped that argument. Only to raise another. "Well then you'll slow us down if we have to move fast!"

"You don't have to worry about that either," Darien said. "If we have to get somewhere fast then I'll get Serena and I there." He ignored Serena's inquiring gaze pointedly.

"Keh," Inuyasha said as he crossed his arms.

Kagome broke into a smile. "That means you guys can join us!"

That comment received another "Keh" from Inuyasha.

"Where _are_ we going?" Serena asked.

"Starting out Shippou, Miroku and I are going to scout ahead for shard rumors on Kirara. You, Kagome, Darien and Inuyasha will walk until we come back with a more exact direction to go in," Sango explained. Serena nodded to show she understood.

She _had_ understood, except for the strange 'on Kirara' comment. Needless to say she was a little surprised when the cute two-tailed cat transformed into a cat demon big enough for Sango and Miroku to ride comfortably on. She was even more surprised at the fire-cat's ability to fly.

__

"And I thought I'd seen everything! Get ready for strange things Serena. This is a strange era!"

When they started out, Kagome and Serena automatically fell in stop together. Inuyasha walked ahead, his ears twitching to and fro, listening for trouble. Darien walked alone, halfway between Inuyasha and the girls.

Serena glanced sideways at Kagome and grinned. "So… tell me, what's the story with you and Inuyasha?"

Kagome gasped, not expecting that question. "Err, what makes you think there's something going on?"  


"I'm good at knowing these things."  


Kagome looked ahead to Inuyasha. He seemed to not be listening to them, but she was not going to take any chances. Instead she leaned and whispered into Serena's ear, "Later. Inuyasha has amazing hearing."

Serena nodded.

"What's with you and Darien?" Kagome volleyed back with a cheshire grin, but Serena just shrugged. "There's nothing there?"

"All that's there is mutual… well, not dislike, but you definitely couldn't call us friends. We've been at each other's throats since the day we met, until we got here. We called a truce, so I guess now we're just staying away from each other."

"How did you guys meet then?"

Serena laughed in remembrance. "I had failed a test, and was so upset that while walking home I crumpled it up and threw it behind me. It landed on Darien's head. Of course he read it, and he called me a stupid Meatball Head, and the rest is history."

Kagome laughed. "So you guys see each other a lot then?"

"Yeah, we both hang out in the arcade that I sent you to. My friends and I like to hang out and talk and eat. Darien's best friend works there."

"The cute blonde?"

"Yup! That's Andrew. He's like a big brother to me."

"Big brother? I wouldn't be having sisterly thoughts towards _him_!"

"Well, I used to have a crush on him, but I don't anymore."

"So who's the new guy then?"

"Huh?" Serena blushed.

"A-ha! There _is_ a new crush! Tell me about him."

"Well… all I can say is that he is mysterious, and is always there for me. He would never let anyone hurt me. And he's hot!"

The girls giggled. Kagome pressed further, but Serena would not divulge any more information. They ended up gripping about school for awhile. From there they gave each other an overview of what their families and friends were like. Then they talked about favorite TV shows, with Serena catching Kagome up on the shows she had missed while wandering around the Feudal Era. Eventually though a silence settled over them. After five minutes of neither talking, Kagome broached a tender subject.

"Serena?" Kagome asked gently.

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to apologize for whatever it was that upset you last night."

"What do you mean?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"Well, you seemed almost, sad when you left the hut last night."

"Oh, it really wasn't your fault. It's just, when you said that you trusted your family with such a big secret, I thought… I felt… oh, I don't know!" Serena stammered in frustration.

"So there's a big secret you're keeping from your family, and it's starting to get to you," Kagome stated, rather than asked.

"Yeah," Serena said with a nod. "I feel guilty about it every second of the day, but I figure it's best just to not worry them." Kagome nodded in understanding. "Does your Mom know how much danger you get into over here?"

Kagome laughed nervously. "What makes you think I'm in danger?"

"I'm not stupid Kagome! You fight demons! Inuyasha is a good person, I can tell that, but I can also tell that he's lethal in a fight! I wouldn't want to go up against that kind of power, but that's what you do. Am I right?"

"Yeah. You're right. But I hope you know that you just inflated Inuyasha's already gigantic ego."

"I heard that, bitch!"

"SIT!"

WHAM!

The girls giggled, but Kagome soon got right to the point.

"This big secret of yours doesn't have the ability to hurt you does it?"

"No!" Serena squeaked out nervously.

"Serena!" Kagome stopped and forced the obviously lying girl to look at her. "If something dangerous is going on in your life you have to let someone know!"

Serena gave Kagome a confident smile. "Don't worry about me. My family may not know but some of my friends do. We're in it together and don't let anything happen to each other." 

Kagome nodded. "That's how we are. But now you've really got me curious as to what you're involved in!"

Serena gave her an apologetic smile. "If it was just my secret to tell I would. Maybe someday."

The conversation went no further, for they came upon a clearing where Sango, Miroku, Shippou and Kirara waited for them.

"Get yourself into trouble, monk?" Inuyasha asked with a wicked grin.

"No, why do you ask?" Miroku answered back instantly. Everyone rolled their eyes, for he had bumps on his head and fading slap marks on his cheeks. They all knew who had dealt those out, for Sango looked very relieved to see them.

A fire was already blazing, and Kagome started right away in making Ramen. Once it was done and everyone was eating, Kagome asked the key question.

"So, any rumors?"

"Actually, yes. About two days from here there's a rumor of a snake demon that is unusually strong," Miroku answered.

"What do you think? Wandering demon or a minion of Naraku?" Kagome asked.

"Keh. Who knows?" Inuyasha said around a mouthful of Ramen.

"Yes, but we'll find out!" Sango promised.

"Err, who's Naraku?" Serena asked. She and Darien were sitting next to each other and had exchanged a confused glance at the name that brought such bitterness to Kagome's voice.

"It's a long story, but he's a half-demon that we very much want dead." Kagome explained. "Just consider him the ultimate evil."

Serena had to choke back a bitter laugh. They obviously did not know Beryl.

"You okay?" Darien asked.

"Fine," she squeaked out.

"All right, lets go," Inuyasha said, impatient to get on the way. Kagome rolled her eyes but got up anyways and put out the fire.

As they started to get going they fell along the path in pairs. Inuyasha and Kagome took the lead with Shippou on her shoulder. Miroku and Sango came behind with Kirara in Sango's arms. Last of all came Darien and Serena.

"Why aren't you back there with Serena?" Inuyasha asked with an attitude.

Kagome had to bite back a laugh. Normally she walked by Inuyasha, so when she had spent the morning talking to Serena he had gotten a bit jealous. "I want to give her some time with Darien."

"I thought they didn't like each other."

"I knew it! You _were_ listening in!"

"Of course I wasn't wench! You saw them when we first met them, they were yelling at each other like, like…"

"Like you and Kagome normally do."

"SHUT UP MONK!"

Serena and Darien hung back a bit, watching the friends squabble.

"They remind me of you and your friends," Darien said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, you guys just aren't as violent."

Serena had to agree. By the time they were settled down Inuyasha had been sat twice, Miroku hit with Sango's boomerang and Shippou had his head bopped by Inuyasha.

"Uh, Darien… why didn't you have Kagome give a message to someone?"

He shrugged. "No one to give one to, I guess."

"Isn't anyone going to worry about you?"

"Andrew, maybe, but that's about it."

"Oh." She wanted to ask why, but decided it was best not to ask. If he wanted her to know, he would tell her.

They walked in silence, each lost to their own thoughts. So lost in thought were they that neither of them noticed the weasel demon sneaking up on them until it was upon them, literally.


	6. Chapter Five

Hi! Woohoo! I kept my "non-promise" promise to get Chapter Five up! :) (Yeah, I'm working on the smiley face addiction, and I'm getting better.) :)

Keledrena: I try! ;)

Jabba1: Don't worry, if I change categories I will give plenty of warning!

****

Sadie Joyce Myst Lady: Yeah, New Zealand is a wonderful country. I'm dying to go back! And don't worry about the length of the review, I just love getting them! ;)

****

dizzy4: Why thank you! I'm trying to make the plot as seamless as possible! Let me know if you find any iffy parts in the plot, and I'll try to fix em!

****

Henio: ah… that time is coming up soon! ;) 

All right, so here is one warning… I WILL be changing the rating of this story, but that won't happen for several chapters. It will move up to PG-13 due to certain… conversations. It'll still be a PG story for awhile though. (Although the language can be a bit rough. Not too bad though, I think.)

Sorry to say, not too much action in this chapter (I'm not all that great at writing action scenes.) This is a 'talkie' chapter.. you have been warned. :) And, again, there is a lot of explanation around the _Inuyasha_ storyline, for those of you who might not know it well. It's been awhile since I've seen the episodes that I talk about, so don't take everything for the solid truth. I did it from my memory, and that can be a scary thing! :)

________________

Serena was shocked when she felt the claws ripping through her shirt, but her instincts and training as Sailor Moon soon kicked in. She arched her back in, fell forward and quickly rolled over, ignoring the pain in her back. She looked up and saw fiercesome teeth coming towards her. Her hand began to reach for her brooch, but the teeth were knocked away a second later by a red blur. A moment later she saw in someone's arms and behind a bush.

"Are you all right?"

Serena looked up. She was currently in the arms of Darien. She blushed but nodded.

He sat her down and checked her back. With a sigh of relief he said, "Just a scratch. You moved quickly out there." He held admiration in his face.

"Thanks, but I'd be a goner if it wasn't for you and Inuyasha."

Darien shrugged, then peeked around the bush. He looked back at her with surprise clearly written on his face. "They've already killed the demon. Come on."

Serena too was surprised, but held it in.

When they stepped out from behind the bush they saw Inuyasha cleaning off his sword. Serena walked up to him.

"Thank you for saving my life."

"Keh," was his response. Kagome had already warned her about the half-demon's favorite word, so Serena just smiled and joined the rest of the group who were talking about the attack.

"That was a pretty weak demon, wasn't it?" Darien was asking.

"Yes, probably just after the jewel shards." Miroku guessed.

"No he wasn't," Inuyasha said. Everyone turned to look at him.

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked.

He wiped his swords one last time and sheathed it. He shook his head. "Nothing. Never mind." They pestered him for a few minutes but he refused to say anything more.

"Well fine!" Kagome said, finally fed up. "We're going to make camp in that clearing ahead. It's getting late." Inuyasha was about ready to argue. "NO arguments! Besides, Serena got hurt and we need to clean her cut and fix her uniform." She knew Inuyasha would not argue with that.

"Keh."

Kagome grinned. She was right, she had won.

They started for the clearing and once there set up camp. Sango had run ahead to find some water so that they could cook dinner. She came back with a bucket full of water and a big grin.

"Guess what Kagome?" Her eyes were sparkling, and Kagome's eyes lit up.

"Really?!" Sango nodded. "Oooh, it's been so long!"

Everyone but Serena and Darien seemed to know what they were talking about.

"Uh, Kagome?" Serena said, the question obvious in her voice.

"Oh! There's hot springs nearby! You, Sango and I get to bathe!"

Serena too lit up at this news. "That sounds wonderful!"

Right after dinner the girls headed for the hot springs. After making sure no hentai monks had followed them they stripped down and got in.

"This feels wonderful," Serena said.

"Enjoy it, it'll probably be the only one for awhile," Kagome warned. She saw Serena grimace. "You get used to it after awhile. And you appreciate your tub back home so much more!"

Serena smiled sadly. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Oh!" Kagome said, her face falling. "Don't worry, we'll figure out a way to get you home."

"I hope so. I just wish I knew why I was here, why we were allowed through the well."

"Everything happened for a reason, Serena." Sango said. "You may not like what happened but sometimes good can come out of bad." She sighed. "I don't spill my life story to everyone I meet, but since you are a part of this group now, you need to know. Besides, it'll explain my hatred towards Naraku."

Serena listened to Sango's condensed version of how she came to join the group. She had grown up in a loving family and had a younger brother, Kohaku. She was one of the few female demon exterminators from her village, but she was one of the best. One night all the best exterminators were called out to rid a castle of spider demons. Kohaku came along. It was his first extermination.

Sango killed a huge spider demon, and then everything went wrong. Before she knew it all of those she had come with were killed by Kohaku, including their father. She saw the thread leading from her brother to the king, who was actually a spider demon in disguise. She was glad that it was not Kohaku's fault, but when he tried to kill her, she could not bring herself to fight back. She tried to kill the spider demon but the guards shot her and her brother full of arrows. They were both buried.

But Sango was not dead. She fought her way out of the grave and was nursed by the prince. He broke the news to her that while all the exterminators were gone, someone had attacked her village and killed everyone. He told her that the one who had done it was Inuyasha. He gave her a jewel shard and told her it would give her the strength needed to kill Inuyasha and get her revenge.

Obviously, she eventually discovered that Inuyasha had nothing to do with her village's demise and that the shard was poisoning her mind. Once the shard was gone, she began to heal, and stayed with the group. She learned that the prince had actually been Naraku, and he was the one who murdered her village. To top it all, Kohaku, kept alive by a jewel shard, was under his control. So she sought Naraku and planned to kill him to avenge her family's death, her village's deaths, and to hopefully rescue Kohaku.

Serena was speechless for awhile, and was startled from her thoughts when Sango continued speaking.

"So my past holds horrible things, and I would love to change it all if I could. I know I can't though, so I have to look at the good things too. Kagome is my best friend, and I can't imagine a life where I didn't know her. Inuyasha, once you get past the gruff exterior, attitude and harsh words, is a good friend. Miroku… well, life is interesting with him around, that's for sure."

"Don't kid yourself Sango, you know you care for him!" Kagome teased. Sango just blushed.

Serena agreed wholeheartedly with taking whatever good you can get out of the bad. Thinking about Ami, Lita and Rei reminded her of that.

"Okay, so that explains why you hate Naraku, but what about the rest of you?" Serena asked.

"Well, have you noticed that Miroku has a cloth and prayer beads covering his right hand?" Kagome asked and Serena nodded. "That covers a hole in his hand. When the cloth and beads are removed a wind tunnel erupts from his hand and sucks in everything around him. He inherited it from his father who had inherited it from his father. Miroku's grandfather was cursed with the wind tunnel by Naraku and the only way to get rid of it is to kill Naraku. Both Miroku's grandfather and father were sucked into their own wind tunnel and it will happen to Miroku someday. That's why he hates Naraku so much. That's also why he asks every pretty girl he sees to bear his child for him. He wants to ensure that if he doesn't kill Naraku in time that there will be someone who will. Of course, he hasn't been very successful in getting anyone to have his child, but it isn't from his lack of asking!"

"I haven't heard him ask anyone," Serena pointed out, actually thinking more along the lines that he had not asked her.

"Well, he was going to ask you when we first met you at the well, believe me," Sango explained, "but then he saw the death glare Darien was giving him and decided against it." Serena blushed a deep red.

"He has too much respect for Sango to ask her," Kagome said, causing Sango to blush.

"Well, he values his life too much to ask you, Kagome, because Inuyasha would kill him if he did." And so Kagome joined in on the blushfest.

"That reminds me," Serena said with a devious smile. "You said you'd tell me about you and Inuyasha later. It's later and he's not around so spill!" Sadness flashed across Kagome's face and Serena felt bad. "I'm sorry! If you don't want to say anything you don't have to, I understand!"

"No. No, I'll tell you. Besides, it explains why Inuyasha hates Naraku and in turn why I do." She fell silent for a moment, collecting her thoughts. She glanced at Sango, who gave her an encouraging smile. "All right, here goes. Mind, this is going to be a short version of the story, or else we'd be here all night.

"It all started a little more than fifty years ago. In the village we were at when you first got here lived a priestess named Kikyo, and she was the protector of the Shikon Jewel. Demons were forever trying to get the jewel in order to make themselves stronger, but Kikyo just had to shoot them with a purifying arrow and they were goners. As a priestess she had the power to purify and to heal with the slightest thought. 

"As I said, demons wanted the jewel and Inuyasha was no exception; however, Kikyo never killed him, just simply shot at him to discourage him. Eventually they fell in love with one another. Kikyo said they could be together if Inuyasha wished to become human on the jewel. He would be human, the jewel would purify itself and disappear, and he and Kikyo could be together. So he agreed.

"During this time Kikyo was nursing a thief named Onigumi, for he had been all but burned to a crisp in a fire. Onigumi was an evil man who greatly desired Kikyo. So great was his desire that when the chance to become half-demon came along, he took it. He took hundreds of demons into his body, and became what we now know as Naraku.

"On the day Inuyasha was to become human, Kikyo was working in a field. Naraku shape shifted into Inuyasha and dealt Kikyo a fatal blow. When Kikyo did not show up with the jewel Inuyasha thought she had changed her mind and so in a fit of rage stole the Shikon Jewel from the temple. He did not get far, for Kikyo, with the last of her strength, pinned him to a tree and put him under a spell of sleep. Before she died she told her sister, Kaede, to burn the jewel with her, and so it was done and all was at relative peace for fifty years.

"Of course, fifty years later I came through the well, but you already know how Inuyasha came to be free and the jewel shattered. What I didn't mention was how I came to possess the jewel. As I said, Kikyo had the jewel burned with her body, but that didn't get rid of it. Instead it ended up in the body of her reincarnation, me.

"So there I was, the reincarnation of Kikyo, forced to work with Inuyasha. I was attracted to him from the start," Kagome blushed a deep red at this admission, "but he just saw me as the shard detector who looked like the woman who pinned him to a tree. And whenever he was nice to me, I wasn't sure if it was because of me, or because of Kikyo. That all was bad enough, but it gets worse.

"Not long after Inuyasha and I began looking for the shards a witch kidnapped me. She had stolen the remains of Kikyo and out of her remains and clay had formed a copy of Kikyo. But the copy needed her soul, hence my kidnapping. The witch forced my soul from me using magic and gave it to Kikyo. Right about then Inuyasha showed up and Kikyo tried to kill him. I somehow managed to call back my soul but a part of it remained with Kikyo. Now she's given up trying to directly kill Inuyasha, instead she plans to pull him down to hell with her so that they can be together for eternity. Inuyasha agreed, but won't go until Naraku is dead, for he still seeks revenge for Kikyo's death.

"That clay copy is still wandering around somewhere. Whenever she's close by Inuyasha runs to her just so he can be with her for awhile." She sighed. "He loves her so much, and I know that, yet I couldn't stop myself from falling for him. Every time he runs off to her it hurts so bad. But I said that I would stay by him, and I will keep my word until the day he goes with her to hell."

Serena was silent, soaking in the story. She had no clue that the bright, cheery Kagome held in so much pain.

"Enough of this sadness!" Kagome exclaimed, getting up and moving to her clothes. "I'm turning into a prune!"

Sango and Serena looked at their hands. They too looked like shriveled raisins. They were not long in getting out of the water and soon they were all dry and heading back to camp.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

The guys watched as Sango, Serena and Kagome headed to the hot springs. Miroku tried to be discrete in getting up, but Inuyasha was waiting for him to do so.

"Where do you think you're going?" he growled to the monk.

"Merely to protect the women, of course." He managed to look completely innocent, but no one was falling for it.

Inuyasha flexed his clawed fingers pointedly. "Sit down." Miroku sat in his tracks.

The guys were not having as easy a time talking as the girls did. Miroku decided to break the uncomfortable silence so turned to Darien.

"So what's your story, Darien?"

"Huh?" he asked, looking up from his thoughts.

"What's your story? What is your life like back in your era?"

Inuyasha flicked his ears in their direction, not outwardly showing his interest in the answer. A sigh reached his ears.

"Nothing special. I'm studying to become a doctor." He realized that they probably did not know what he meant. "A healer of sorts, and school and studying take up much of my time."

"Keh, sounds like Kagome," Inuyasha grumbled to himself.

Miroku ignored the disgruntled half-demon. "That's it? All you do is go to school and study?" He was pressing for details.

"Well, my friend works at the arcade that Serena sent Kagome to, so I go to the arcade to visit with him some. And of course I enjoy bugging Serena every once in awhile." A grin reached his lips.

"Are you and Lady Serena…" Miroku was trying to find the right word to finish his question, but Darien got the gist of the question.

"NO! She's too young for me! I'm six years older than her!"

"How old is Lady Serena?"

"Fourteen."

"That's a marriageable age."

"Not in my time! We don't marry until our twenties, maybe eighteen or nineteen in some occasions."

Miroku and Inuyasha were taken aback by this, but did not say anything.

"All right, so you and Lady Serena are not together. Are there any women in your life?" Miroku finally arrived on his favorite subject.

"No… not really." He flinched as the 'not really' slipped out. He knew Miroku was going to pounce on that, but he was wrong.

"So there is a woman!" It was Inuyasha who pounced on the slip.

"Do tell!" Miroku added.

"Well… she's hard to describe. She's a girl I feel compelled to protect. She can be extremely strong one moment but then timid and scared the next. When it comes down to it though she is brave. I barely know her, but I think I would gladly die for her."

Miroku and Inuyasha stared at him without saying a word and he felt a blush rise to his cheeks. They were too lost in their own thoughts to say anything. They both related to certain aspects of what he had said, and were soon lost in thoughts. One was thinking of a spirited demon exterminator while the other was thinking of a girl from the future. Soon Darien too was lost in thought, although his flittered from a mystical warrior to a cute Meatball Head and back and forth.

They all were silent until the girls returned. It seemed that the girls had a lot on their minds too for they only called good night to everyone and then went to bed. The guys followed once they were sure the girls were settled in and comfortable.


	7. Chapter Six

Howdy! Hope this finds you in good spirits! I'm doing pretty good… now that my computer is cooperating with me. Aren't they annoying little things sometimes?

Well, this is a shorter chapter than what you may be used to from me, but hopefully it's interesting. ;) 

****

AprilSailormoon: Yay! You don't know how happy I was to hear that my explanations are appreciated! I was worried that people were going to get annoyed with me… so thanks for your encouragement! And I encourage you to watch more Inuyasha! I love that show!! :)

****

Kairinu: Why thank you!! ::blush:: I try…. :)

****

Jabba1: Thank you! Glad that I'm giving some good info (err… hopefully my memory is good enough for it to be all correct… he he…). I think it mostly is though! ;)

****

hatami: Thank you! Glad ya like it! ;)

Err… yeah, my smiley face therapy went down the drain, didn't it? Hee hee… oh well, I'm happy, so what?! :)

All righty… onto the fic!!

_______________

They traveled for the next three days searching for the snake demon who was rumored to have a shard. The demon was moving away from them, but they were slowly catching up, for Kagome was beginning to sense the shard it had. In those three days they all got to know each other better, and learned each other's stories. Serena and Darien each felt guilty for not trusting the group with their secret, but each felt it was best not to say anything after keeping it silent thus far.

After lunch on the third day Serena maneuvered herself so that she and Miroku were walking together at the back of the group. She got some weird looks from her friends, but she just smiled back. She had always been good at reading emotions and even though Miroku was good at hiding his, she knew that there was something bothering him and she was pretty sure she knew what that something was.

"So to what do I owe this pleasure, Lady Serena?" Miroku grinned down at her.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." The grin vanished from his face once he saw the serious look on her face.

"What is it?"

She sighed. She hated to be so up front, but it needed to be said. "Why do you hide behind your wind tunnel?" He looked down at her, obviously puzzled. "You know what I mean. You approach every young woman and ask her to bear you your child in hopes to continue your line. Yet you refuse to ask the one woman who is willing to carry your child." She glanced at Sango pointedly. "Why?"

Miroku did not answer her for several minutes. He just looked straight ahead with an unreadable look on his face. After awhile he looked down at his cursed hand and sighed.

"Every time I use the wind tunnel it grows. It never used to do that before, but it happened to my Father several years before his wind tunnel sucked him in. He rarely used his wind tunnel, Serena, and I use mine all the time." He sighed again. "I won't last out the year. I would be lucky to last the next few months. So the reason I do not ask Sango to bear my child is because I love her too much to do so. I would be gone before she gave birth to our child. No one would be there for her, to help her raise our child. So I ask anyone but her. I know no one will actually agree, I do it just to chase Sango away. If she does not fall in love with me, then it will not hurt her when I am gone."

Serena took this in. She had no idea that this was what was burdening Miroku. She now knew his hurt ran deep just below the surface of his cheerful façade.

"Do you really think that Sango will be happier after you are gone if she does not know that you loved her? Why can't you both be happy during the time you have left? Is it really worth it to keep it all bottled up inside? Because it's too late Miroku, she already loves you. There is no chasing her away."

Miroku looked down at her for a moment, and she could see the pain in his eyes. She stopped in her tracks and watched him walk ahead, and around a corner until everyone was lost from sight. She could not understand Miroku. Why could he not let his love for Sango show, or let her love him? Why could love not conquer all?

She was broken from her thought completely when someone grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the bushes. She was about to scream but when she saw who had grabbed her all that came out was a squeak.

Her captor was a tall woman who had long black hair with natural green highlights. In one hand was a staff, but what had caused the squeak was that she was wearing a sailor scout uniform.

"Wh- who are you?" Serena asked.

The woman gave a slight bow. "Sailor Pluto, the Guardian of Time."

"Guardian of Time?"

"Yes. I do not have much time to talk, so I will get right down to it. When you and Darien fell into the well you went off into a very unlikely timeline, one that I did not foresee. One that may be difficult to get through. I can tell you this: You can trust everyone that you are with, especially Darien. Also, you must trust your instincts."

"My instincts?"

"Yes. You must trust in your instincts; trust in yourself."

Serena nodded, still confused. A question came to her mind. "Sailor Pluto? Do you know if my friends are - the scouts - are okay?" 

"Yes, they are doing fine. Things were - questionable - for awhile, but they were joined by Sailor Venus and things are better. They miss you though," she said, smiling slightly. Then she seemed to sense something. "I'm sorry, I have to go. Tell no one you saw me. It was a pleasure to meet you, Sailor Moon." She bowed again.

Before Serena could respond, Sailor Pluto swung her staff, causing a door to appear. Without a backward glance she stepped through the doorway and both she and the doorway disappeared.

"Okay… that was weird," Serena said out loud to herself.

She was about to move back to the path, but suddenly the sounds of battle reached her ears. So instead she crept around the trees until she could see what was going on.

The demon they were fighting was obviously the snake demon from the rumors. It looked like a giant cobra, except this one had two heads. She looked around, and was glad to see that Darien was not in sight. Another quick glance proved Shippou to be missing too. She went back to watching the fight. Her friends seemed to have everything under control. Inuyasha had his sword, Tetsusaiga, out and it was glowing. He was probably about to use the Wind Scar attack they had told her about. But then everything fell apart.

The snake's tail snaked around and managed to grab Kagome up in it's grip; therefore effectively causing Inuyasha to stop his Wind Scar attack in fear of hurting Kagome. Sango threw her boomerang and managed to chop off one of the snake's heads, but the other head turned and spit something at her. Miroku pushed Sango aside and took the hit for her, but the snake just spit again a moment later and hit Sango anyway. Kirara then took the job of protecting the fallen warriors from anymore attacks. Inuyasha was now fighting alone, but could not make any headway in killing the demon. It weaved away from many of his attacks and even those that hit were quickly healed thanks to the Shikon shards. Inuyasha, on the other hand, was taking plenty of hits from the demon's spit.

Serena knew what she had to do, it was an instinct that she had to help or none of her friends would come out of this alive. Sailor Pluto told her to trust her instincts, so trust them she would.

"Moon Prism Power!"

It had been awhile since she had felt the power flow through her, and she was surprised to realize that she had missed it.

She leapt out of the bushes and landed a ways away from the demon. It was preoccupied with attacking Inuyasha, so she decided to distract it.

"Hey, you two-headed freak of nature! Why don't you try your luck with me!" Not her usual speech, but still effective. The demon ignored Inuyasha and started towards her. She reached for her tiara and tried to figure out the best place to hit it. Something… something told her to hit just below the junction of it's two necks.

"Moon Tiara Magic!"

The tiara hit true and the one surviving head and stumped neck separated from the rest of its body. Even though the demon was dead, the head was still hurtling towards her. With an "Eep!" she tensed to jump out of the say, but she was swooped up and moved before she could react. She felt comforting, familiar arms supporting her, attached to a very familiar black tuxedo.

He set her down, his hands falling to his sides. She looked up at him, he looked down at her. Each knew now without a doubt who the other was.

"Serena."

"Darien."

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?!" Their silent staring was broken by the confused half-demon's yell. They both whirled to face him.

Inuyasha was standing, unbothered by the blood running form his various cuts. Kagome was kneeling on the ground next to him, in obvious pain, but with two new shards for the jar around her neck. Shippou stood next to her, a comforting paw on her knee. Miroku and Sango were now standing, albeit painfully, on the other side of Inuyasha. Kirara was in her larger form, standing protectively in front of Sango.

Serena powered down with a smile on her face. Darien, taking her cue, was soon in normal attire too.

With a little smirk, Serena said, "Told you I could take care of myself."

"Hmph" she heard from next to her. She looked up at Darien.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He looked down at her. "It means that it is laughable to think of you taking care of yourself."

"Excuse me?" Anger flared up in her eyes.

"You would be dead a hundred times over if it wasn't for me and the scouts saving your butt."

"And everyone in Tokyo would have their energy sucked dry a hundred times over if it weren't for my ability to kill youmas!"

"Ha! A child with a stick could fight better than you! You're a pathetic excuse for a Sailor Scout!"

"PATHETIC? You want to talk about PATHETIC, lets talk about those pansy roses you toss around! They couldn't maim a FLEA! At least I have some real powers!"

"Real powers? Why don't you use them sometime then? Maybe if you did your friends wouldn't get hurt all the time trying to keep their so-called leader safe!"

That struck a nerve. "You're an asshole, Darien! A cold hearted ASSHOLE! A pathetic excuse for a human being!"

She turned to the group of wide-eyed observers and said in a strained voice. "There's a hot spring we passed two minutes down the path, I'll be there," and ran off. Darien just stood there glaring at nothing in particular.

Kagome stood up painfully. "Come on, let's make camp," she said softly. "It's going to be a long night." Everyone nodded in agreement and started off towards a nearby clearing. Shippou was the unlucky one elected to coax Darien to go with them, but he came along willingly, still glaring into space.


	8. Chapter Seven

Wow… this chapter was difficult to write, and to tell you the truth, I'm not completely happy with it. It wasn't flowing right for me, but I couldn't seem to make it any better, so I gave up. However, I did, just for the fun of it, add some light I/K fluff at the end that I hadn't originally written. :) (Oh, but don't worry, there is also some light S/D fluff too!)

****

Jabba1: Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later! It was too much fun having them find out to keep it a secret! (Uh… did that make any sense? LoL.)

****

Henio: Yeah, sorry about how short Chapter Six was! This chapter will for sure be longer (I even added in a scene that I didn't originally write.) ;)

****

Kairinu: Isn't it amazing how easy it is to pin the blame on siblings! :) I've got to say though, this chapter isn't very suspenseful… it's really just another talkie. Hope it doesn't bore you!

****

Sadie Joyce Myst Lady: No problem… I love Inuyasha! It's one of the best anime I've seen (although I haven't really seen that many). And yeah, I feel really sorry for Kagome too… the chick just can't catch a break!

You know… the Sailor Pluto thing actually surprised me too. It just popped into my mind one day, and I figured that Pluto was a good device to make Serena believe that she can trust everyone. And besides… some of what Pluto says will be important later on in the story. ;)

I had that screaming match in my head for awhile, and I actually cut it down a bit because I was getting extravagantly mean. The way I figure it is that they were nice to each other for far too long, so when a chance to fight came up they took it and ran with it. They just ran in a painful direction. Now that they blew off some steam, they can be nice. :)

Personally, I prefer Inuyasha, but then again I've always been attracted to the strange ones… but no need to go there! Hee hee…

****

Mimi: Is that a good "*blink blink*" or a bad "*blink blink*"? ;)

So, on with Chapter Seven! Oh… wait! I know you're used to me doing explanations about the Inuyasha plots, but I'm not going to do the same thing with the Sailor Moon one. I'm going to assume that most people know the basics of how Serena and Darien first became Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. Right? If not, complain and I'll redo this chapter.

Okay… now you can read!

_____________________

Serena sighed as she raked her hands through her hair. She had let her hair down for the first time in the approximately five days she had been in the Feudal Era, and it felt good to be able to run her hands completely through the tangled mess. Her mind was not really on her hair though, but rather on the argument. She was mentally kicking herself for the harsh words she had said to Darien. She had not meant a word of it. She was not really even too mad at his words anymore either. She had been reflecting on them for the last half hour and had begun to realize how true they rang.

She was interrupted out of her thoughts by the sounds of movement in the bushes. Her eyes shot open and her head snapped to where the sounds had come from. She relaxed when she saw Kagome and Sango coming through the bushes.

"How are you two?" Serena asked with concern in her voice.

"I have some bruised ribs, but that's about it," Kagome said as she and Sango joined Serena in the hot spring.

"Just some cuts and bruises. What ever that demon spit at us wasn't poisonous." Sango added.

And then they looked at Serena, who was aware of the unspoken question. She chose to ignore it.

"And Miroku and Inuyasha?"

"They're fine too." Kagome assured. "Uh… Serena…" she trailed off, not quite sure of what to say.

"Sailor Moon."

"Huh?" Sango asked while Kagome shot her an equally confused look.

"Back there. My… alter ego, I guess you could say. Sailor Moon, champion of love and justice." She said her trademark line with a smile, but it was a half-hearted effort. "That's what I couldn't tell you about, Kagome. What my parents don't know about."

Kagome nodded. "And… uh… Darien?" she asked cautiously.

Serena was mildly surprised. "He didn't tell you anything?"

Both shook their heads. "He checked over Kagome, Miroku and I and then just sat there. He never said anything beyond talking about our wounds."

"We call him Tuxedo Mask."

"Appropriate," Kagome said. Sango ignored the unfamiliar term. She was used to this.

Serena sighed. "He really has saved me countless times. Him and my friends. And his roses are quite deadly, and definitely not pansy. And he isn't a cold hearted asshole. _I'm_ a cold hearted bitch." The regret and pain was evident in her voice.

"Serena! You are _not_ a cold hearted bitch! Sure, you said some hurtful things, but so did he! You were just giving back what you were given.

"No, Kagome. _I_ said some hurtful things, he was just stating the truth."

"What?!" Kagome exclaimed, shocked at what Serena said.

"I'm a pathetic fighter and I leave it up to my friends to weaken our enemies before I step in and finish them off. They get hurt a lot in the process. If I was a better fighter, a stronger fighter… if I wasn't such a crybaby chicken, then my friends wouldn't get hurt so much. I don't know why I'm even the leader, any of my friends would be better. I am… pathetic."

Sango and Kagome could not believe what they were hearing. In the five days they had known Serena they had known her as a bright cherry girl who never let anything get her down. They had never seen this dark, depressed side of her.

"Oh Serena," Kagome said, tears in her eyes for her friend. "You are so wrong about yourself. I may have only seen you fight once, but I can already tell that you are being way too hard on yourself."

"No, no Kagome. I'm not. It's all true."

"Serena! You jumped out and had that demon dead in ten seconds. We were struggling with that demon for a couple of _minutes_! No, Serena, you are _not_ week, you are _not_ pathetic. You are a strong and capable fighter, and I'm sure you are a great leader. If you weren't your friends wouldn't fight for you, wouldn't even attempt to protect you."

Serena sat quietly for a moment. Finally she broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Thank you Kagome, that makes me feel better. But one act of spontaneous bravery does not make up for all of the times that I let my friends take the brunt of the attacks to protect me." With a sigh she heaved herself out of the water. "I have to apologize to Darien." She gave them a small smile. "And when we're done talking then I'll tell you my story."

The girls nodded. Once they were sure Serena was gone, they turned to each other.

"She has too much weight on her shoulders," Sango said. "She hid that from us well."

Kagome nodded. "She's a good actress. We'll just have to make sure to keep encouraging her. And hopefully Darien takes back what he said."

"I hope so. I think that's the only thing that would help her right now." Sango smiled a little. "What do you want to bet that Darien - Tuxedo Mask - is her mysterious protector that she has a crush on?"

Kagome giggled. "I was thinking the same thing."

They got out of the hot springs, ready to head back to camp.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

As soon as Kagome and Sango left camp to join Serena at the hot springs, Darien sat against a tree with a heavy sigh. He waited for the questioning to begin. It did not take long.

"All right, what the hell was that all about?!" Inuyasha asked, ever the one to get straight to the point.

"Inuyasha!" Miroku chided. "He'll tell us if and when he wants to."

"No, it's all right," Darien said, looking up from his silent thoughts. "Back there, when I was transformed, I was Tuxedo Mask." He saw the confusion on their faces. "I'm named after my outfit. What I wear is called a tuxedo, and then Mask for the mask I wear." They nodded to show they understood. "Tuxedo Mask is my… alter ego, I guess you could say. I become him when… when Sailor Moon - Serena - is in danger." His head fell heavily to his hands. "Shit." He groaned. "I didn't mean what I said to her. She is incredibly powerful, more powerful than anyone can imagine, I think. She has her… moments in battle, but when it comes down to it, she is brave. She often worries about her friends lives before her own, which is why I'm around. I can't help but to protect her. It's like it's my destiny to protect her."

"So I take it that Ser - Sailor Moon is the woman you told us about?" Miroku asked as gently as he could.

Darien nodded. "Yeah. I really need to talk to her when she gets back."

"Until then… roses?" Inuyasha asked in distain. They did not seem to be an appropriate weapon to him.

Darien smiled a little smile, and before Inuyasha knew what was happening a rose was embedded in the trunk of the tree he was leaning against, right about his head.

"Hey!" Inuyasha yelled, turning around to see the rose. It was so deeply embedded into the wood that it looked like someone had glued it there.

"How-how did you do that?" Miroku uncharacteristically gaped at Darien.

Darien flicked his wrist and a rose appeared. "I don't have to be Tuxedo Mask to be able to form roses. The transformation does give me more power on top of disguising me though." He twirled the rose in his fingers. "They aren't very good for killing, but they're effective distractions. Usually just enough time for one of the scouts to get a good attack in."

Shippou was about to ask what 'scouts' were, but he was not given a chance because Serena walked into camp just then. Darien got up and they silently walked off together.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Serena and Darien walked until they were out of earshot from most of those in the camp. They knew that Inuyasha could probably still hear them, but they hoped he would respect their privacy. 

Darien sat down, leaving against a tree. Serena followed suit, facing him.

"I'm sorry," they said in unison. "No, I am," in unison again. They both smiled a little, but Darien held up his hand to stop Serena from saying anything, so she let him talk.

"I didn't mean a word of it, Serena. You are a competent fighter and very powerful. Your scouts would follow you to the ends of the earth and back not only because you are their leader, but also because they love you and believe in you. That's why they protect you and take hits for you. It has nothing to do with your fighting abilities or your powers." He sighed, but did not break the lock on her gaze that he had held since he had begun talking. "I hope you didn't take anything that I said to heart."

She forced herself to keep looking into his eyes. Not once had she seen a lie flicker there. The truth in his words shone forth for her to see. Still she broke the gaze with a sigh and looked down at her hands. "Thank you, Darien, for taking back what you said, but some of it is true."

"No-" Darien started, but Serena cut him off.

"No!" She returned her eyes to his and their eyes were locked once again. "No, it's true. I do let my scouts get hurt way too often. When we get back... that's going to change. I need to start acting like a leader, or else allow one of the other scouts to take over."

"You balance them though, Serena. You are the natural leader for that group. You lead by not leading, in a sense. Maybe that's not what you planned to do, but that's how it happens. You give the scouts free range to do as they think is best. Any of the other scouts would probably be shouting orders left and right and that would be their downfall. The way you girls work is on instinct and you shouldn't be held down by ridged orders. So you see, Serena, you are the best one to lead the Sailor Scouts."

Serena looked back at Darien, wide-eyed. "I-I never thought of it that way, but I guess it makes sense." Then her eyes narrowed a little. "How often have you watched us fight?" She was mildly satisfied to see him blush.

"Uh-well, I normally just watch until I'm needed." A teasing tone entered his voice. "And then I swoop in and attack with my 'pansy roses'."

Serena did not miss the teasing tone, but still felt the need to apologize. "I didn't really mean that at all. Actually, I love your roses!" A blush graced her cheeks.

"Well, in that case…" Darien flicked his wrist and then handed Serena the rose that had appeared. "For the lady." He grinned at her deepened blush.

"Th-thank you." She brought the rose to her nose and breathed in the sweet smell. Then on impulse she leaned forward and kissed Darien on the cheek. "Thank you for always protecting me." Then she got up and began the walk back to camp, therefore missing another atypical blush from Darien.

"I always will," he replied, getting up as well. It was once again Serena's turn to blush.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

When they returned to camp everyone was eagerly awaiting to hear their stories. Even Inuyasha was, although he tried to hide it.

They each told their stories in turn. Serena went first, only being interrupted once, to explain how her cat could talk. Kagome and Darien were the only ones that had trouble grasping that concept, but they decided to believe her. Darien told his short story right after Serena was finished, and was not interrupted. Once he was done though the questions came. Serena was the first one to ask a question.

"So, you know when I transform?" She was skeptical about this.

"Yeah," Darien said, nodding. "I'm not sure why, but I don't care about the reasons, just as long as it helps to protect you," he winked as he said that, causing Serena to blush yet again.

"Uh, so how many Sailor Scouts are there?" Kagome asked.

Serena shrugged. "There's probably one for each planet. They show up when they're needed."

"How many planets are there?" Miroku asked.

"Nine," Serena answered. "Mercury, Venus, Mars, Earth, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn and Pluto."

Miroku looked surprised. He had known there were other planets, but had no clue there were that many.

"And why are you looking for this 'Moon Princess'?" Kagome asked.

Serena was yet again the one to answer. "Because once we find the silver crystal, she's the only one that can control it. With the power of the silver crystal we will be able to destroy Beryl."

"And this Beryl is your ultimate enemy?" Sango asked.

"Yes," Darien said, "but we can't get close to killing her because she sends her youmas to do the dirty work."

"Sounds familiar." Inuyasha said, and Kagome, Miroku, Sango and Shippou nodded in agreement.

Serena yawned. "Sorry, but I'm exhausted." She set out her blanket and stretched out. The rest followed her cue, and soon everyone was laying down, trying to get to sleep. All except for Darien. His mind was working hard, and then it clanked to a stop. Serena had never mentioned who the scouts were, and it was bugging him. He knew he should know, and he finally figured it out.

"I've got it!" he said, sitting up. Everyone turned to look at him through blurry eyes. "Opps, sorry, didn't mean to wake you."

"Got what?" Serena said, hiding a yawn behind her hand.

"Rei, Ami and Lita."

Everyone but Serena looked confused.

"How did you know?"

"It makes sense. You are always hanging around them, and the beginning of your friendships with them coincide with each scout showing up." Serena nodded. "But it begs the question, are they who they are because they are scouts, or are they scouts because of who they are?"

"Huh?" Serena intelligently answered.

"Think about it. Rei exerts an aura of power and Mars has almost as much power as you do. Lita is incredibly strong and so is Jupiter. Ami is brilliant and Mercury is the brains of the group. So Rei and Mars have power, Lita and Jupiter have strength and Ami and Mercury have intelligence."

Serena thought for a moment before shrugging. "Its the old what came first question, the chicken or the egg? We'll probably never know." She flopped back to her blanket, more than ready to sleep.

"Then what does Serena and Sailor Moon share?" Shippou asked with the innocence of a child.

"Nothing, Shippou, nothing." Serena answered with a heavy sigh.

"Purity." Darien answered. Serena sat back up and looked at Darien. He looked into her eyes. "They both have the purest soul I have ever seen." Serena smiled back thankfully.

"Keh, go to sleep!" Inuyasha said irritably from a tree above the rest of them. They both chuckled but lay back down, and soon everything was peaceful and calm in the camp.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

It was around an hour later when Inuyasha heard a stifled moan coming from Kagome. He looked down to see her sitting up, hugging her ribs. A moment later he was on the ground. 

"Why are you awake, wench?" He asked, moving to her side. The softness of his voice betrayed his concern.

"My ribs hurt," she said, stating the obvious. "They hurt too much to lay down to sleep."

Inuyasha sighed and tried to act as if she were an inconvenience. "Come on, and bring your blanket."

Kagome slowly stood up and followed Inuyasha to a tree at the edge of camp. She looked at him with confusion when he sat down and looked up at her. He rolled his eyes and sighed, but then grabbed her wrist and pulled her down into his lap. She let out a surprised squeak.

"Shh." He did not want anyone to wake up and see them like that. They would never hear the end of it. "Now, aren't I little more comfortable than the lying on the ground or leaning against a tree?" he whispered into her ear.

She had to suppress a shiver at the sensation of his breath on her face, but managed to dumbly nod. He gently wrapped his arms around her, making sure not to squeeze her bruises. She hesitantly laid her head on his shoulder and was surprised when he rested his cheek against her head.

"Sleep," he commanded softly.

Kagome let out a contented sigh and snuggled into him as much as her bruises would allow. She slept better that night than she ever had before.


	9. Chapter Eight

Hi! My apologies everyone, but this is a rather short chapter. It's really just a filler chapter between 'action', although there is some more info on _Inuyasha_ for those who aren't all that familiar with the show.

Well, I can say for sure that I wouldn't bother looking for another chapter from me this weekend. I have to go home and work, and then my mom and I are going to meet up with my sister. (We haven't seen her for 3 months!) I'm hoping to get the next chapter out sometime in the middle of next week, but we'll see! :)

****

Henio: Sorry that this chapter is so short! I promise though that the next two chapters, at least, are much longer than this one!

****

Kairinu: Thank you! Thank you! ::bow:: I try. :) Hee hee... I've got a deliciously "evil" idea that will appear later that I hope you'll like! That's a few chapters away though…

****

KhmerGirl: Thank you! I hope you enjoy this chapter! :)

****

Jabba1: I *love* Kagome and Inuyasha fluff! I'll fit some more in later on in the story. Na uh! Not going to tell you what's coming up! You'll just have to wait and see! ;)

****

Chelsea C: Glad you like! Hopefully you enjoy this short little chapter too!

All right, well, on to the story! About the "Luna" thing… ::shrug:: it just came out while writing. I was going to originally have it be Malachite, but then I remembered that Serena hadn't met him yet.

Yes, I know, another hot spring. I'm kind of satirizing it all. Everyone uses hot springs in their stories all the time, so I'm putting a lot in here just to make a point. (Although, I've got to say, they are convenient places for the girls to talk!)

Oh, and sorry about the ending! ;) (Gotta love cliffhangers!)

________________

They all slept in the next morning due to the stresses of the night before. Yet, none slept as late as Serena.

"Come on, Serena. Time to get up," Kagome said.

The prone figure moaned something that sounded a lot like "Just five more minutes!"

"Wake up, wench!" It was Inuyasha's turn to try.

Serena actually cracked open her eyelids for that one, but shut them and rolled over while saying "Fuck off, Luna."

Everyone was surprised by the girl's choice of words, but more surprised at her calling Inuyasha 'Luna'. Said dog demon was fuming at being called by Serena's _cat's_ name.

"Must be the ears…?" Darien guessed with a shrug. "My turn to try." He took a step back from Serena's side and said, "Serena, you're going to be late for school!"

Serena was up and on her feet a moment later looking around wildly. She narrowed her eyes and glared at Darien. "That wasn't very funny!" Then confusion settled onto her face. "How did you know that would work?"

Darien chuckled. "You ask that after running into me screaming 'I'm gonna be late' how many times?"

"Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm up, so let's go!"

Everyone shook their heads, but started out. Although Kagome had to drag Inuyasha away from trying to choke a confused Serena. He did not take kindly to even inadvertently being called a cat.

Serena and Darien fell in together along the path naturally. They talked easily about their lives and started to get to know each other a little better. When they were not talking they walked in a comfortable silence. Not an awkward moment passed between them.

Around late afternoon they came to a village. Miroku got them all a place to stay the night by exorcising an "ominous black cloud" from over the most expensive inn, naturally. The inn keeper gladly gave them the use of two rooms, so they spilt off into two groups. The girls, Shippou and Kirara took one room while the guys took the other. The girls stayed up late into the night talking and laughing and enjoying the feeling of being carefree for once. The guys on the other hand went out into the village, hoping to learn of any more shard rumors. After getting the information they wanted they returned to the inn to get some sleep. They decided not to bother the others with their information until morning.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

The next day the girls were tired but in good spirits as they started down the road that would lead them back to the village. They were slightly surprised when they were told that they were going to head east instead of going back to the village.

"Why are we going east?" Kagome asked.

"Last night we talked to the villagers and there is talk of a wind sorceress wrecking havoc to the east," Miroku explained.

"Kagura!" Sango and Kagome exclaimed at the same time.

"Kagura?" Serena asked.

"One of Naraku's 'attachments'," Kagome clarified. Serena and Darien had been told about the creatures that were a part of Naraku and yet were separate entities. They had been created after Kikyo had given Naraku an almost completed piece of the Shikon jewel that she had stolen from Kagome. With the added power from the Shikon fragment, Naraku had been able to separate pieces of his own flesh to create attachments of himself that he could both control and allow to act on their own accord.

"How far east?" Sango asked.

"A couple days walk," Miroku approximated.

"All right, let's get started then," Kagome said. She noticed the slight look of shock on Inuyasha's face. "What?"

"You're not going to whine about going home?"

"I'm not going to go home for as long as Darien and Serena aren't able to get home. It wouldn't seem right."

Inuyasha did not say anything, just turned and started walking down the road heading east. If anyone could have seen his face though they would have seen a small smile.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

They were not three hours down the road when a whirlwind overtook them and swirled around them, stopping in front of Kagome.

"Ah, Kagome, how nice it is to see you!" A wolf demon was now holding Kagome's hands and staring deep into her eyes.

"Kouga!" Inuyasha growled out.

"Dogturd," Kouga growled in return. He sniffed at Inuyasha and broke out into a huge grin. "How time flies! The new moon is tonight already!"

Inuyasha only growled louder as his hand reached for Tetsusaiga.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome said, the warning clear in her voice. Inuyasha let go of his sword but continued to growl. Kagome returned her attention to Kouga, but drew her hands from his gasp which finally caused Inuyasha's growling to cease. "What are you doing around here, Kouga?"

"Heard that the wind wench was east of here. You heading there too?"

"Yeah. We just…" She trailed off when she realized he was no longer paying attention. His eyes were glazed over and he was sniffing the air. "What is it?" she asked, but he was not hearing her.

He moved away from where he was standing in front of Kagome and moved slowly towards Serena and Darien. He circled them, still sniffing. He stopped in front of Serena and finally snapped back to reality. He was gazing at Serena intently.

"Ep!" Serena squeaked out, grabbing onto Darien's arm. He moved it so that the arm was around her shoulder. He held her to his side protectively as he glared at Kouga.

Kouga suddenly turned to look at Inuyasha. "You're crazier than you look, Dogturd."

"What do you mean by that?" Kagome asked, halfway surprised that Inuyasha had not defended himself against the insult.

"I'll let him tell you." Kouga returned to Kagome and drew her into a hug, causing Inuyasha's growls to return, tenfold. Serena saw Kouga whisper something into Kagome's ear, something that caused the smile to fall from her face. He pulled away far enough to kiss her cheek. Without looking at Inuyasha, he said "You'd better take care of my woman," and then sped away as fast as the whirlwind that he had arrived in.

"Who was that?" Serena asked.

"What was that all about?" Darien asked.

"Why are you crazy, Inuyasha?" Shippou added.

"Sit," Kagome said as she started walking again.

WHAM!

"What was that for, bitch?!"

Kagome just looked over her shoulder and said, "Come on, let's get going. Maybe we can find a place to camp by a hot spring."

Nobody dared to talk to anyone else because they could tell that Kagome was in a bad mood. Even Inuyasha was wise enough to keep his mouth shut.

Once they stopped for lunch though, Kagome started up the first conversation.

"Tell us why Kouga called you crazy." She was speaking to Inuyasha, but did not look at him as she busied herself with cooking lunch, with Serena's help.

Inuyasha was startled at first, but decided it was best to explain.

"Serena and Darien are demon magnets."

"What?!" Serena cried out, agitated by the news.

"That weasel demon that attacked you wasn't after the jewel shards, it was after you two," he said to Serena.

"Why?" Darien asked. Serena was too shocked to say anything.

"Your powers. They don't just go away when you're not transformed, they're just swimming below the surface. Any demon can sense that power, I did the moment you stepped out of the well. I just wasn't sure what that power was until the other day."

"So demons are going to be coming to try to kill us to gain our power?" Serena said, barely containing her nervousness.

"No. That weasel demon was stupid. Most demons wouldn't dare go up against the power levels you two give off."

"Wow Inuyasha, you're actually sounding intelligent!" Miroku pointed out.

"Shut up Miroku!"

"Thank you Inuyasha. You can go now," Kagome stated calmly. Everyone looked at her in confusion.

"What are you talking about wench?"

"I know that even with your waning sense of smell you can smell her. I know that she's close by. Kouga told me he saw soul snatchers not far from us. So go see her, we'll wait here until you get back." Inuyasha just stood there looking at her with barely contained shock. She sighed. "Just go. Better now than tonight."

Inuyasha nodded and then leapt away a moment later.

"Uh, okay," Serena said, now thoroughly confused. She knew that Kikyo had soul snatchers that followed her. She survived off the souls of the dead because the small amount of Kagome's soul that she had was unable to sustain her. So Serena knew that it was obviously Kikyo that Inuyasha was running off to see, but… "What is Kouga to you and what's going on tonight?"

Kagome blushed as she explained about Kouga. "Well, you see, a while back, before we were friends, Kouga kidnapped me because of my ability to see jewel shards. He needed me to defeat his pack's enemy, a group of bird-like creatures. Their leader had a jewel shard, so the only way to defeat him was to know where the shard was. He eventually destroyed every single one of the creatures, with some help from Miroku, Sango and Inuyasha, all of whom had come to my rescue. While I was with Kouga though he decided that I was his woman, and so now he's forever trying to get me to go with him. He's a great guy, but he'll only ever be a friend."

"And he's after Naraku too?" Darien asked.

"Yeah, Kagura especially though. She was the one who killed off much of his pack and his neighboring packs. Now there aren't too many wolf demons left. Oh, and he has two jewel shards, one in each leg. That's the reason for the wind storm when he came and went." A small smile appeared on her lips.

"And tonight?" Serena asked again.

The smile died. "Tonight's the night of the new moon. Tonight Inuyasha becomes human until dawn. All half-demons have their times when their demon blood leaves them and they become human," Kagome explained in simple terms.

Serena sensed that Inuyasha was not a good subject to be on right then. She wanted to cheer up Kagome, but was not sure how.

SMACK!  
  
"Pervert!"

Serena got an idea.

"Hey, Kagome, did you ever tell Sango about the guys in our time?"

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked, still slightly distracted.

"About the guys who make Miroku look an angel and all their cheesy pick up lines."

A smile finally dawned on Kagome's face.

By the time Inuyasha returned the three girls were having a good time talking about idiot guys. As the group started off again the girls continued to gab, both Serena and Sango, who had caught onto Serena's plan, keeping Kagome smiling and laughing.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Four hours later the girls were still together, quietly soaking in a hot spring.

"Is it just me or do we seem to be visiting a lot of hot springs?" Serena asked.

"Yeah, but it feels _so_ good!" Kagome said with a contented sigh.

"Mhm," Sango agreed.

Serena looked up at the moon, or where it should be. Night had fallen and the sky was virtually moonless. Suddenly a shudder ran down her spine.

"What's wrong?" Sango asked, catching the slight movement.

"I don't know," Serena said softly, slightly confused. "Something doesn't feel right." She shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well, must be the new moon thing. I don't like not being able to see the moon."

The girls nodded in agreement.

Kagome sighed and started to get up.

"Leaving already?" Sango asked.

"Yeah. I should probably check on Inuyasha. You know how he gets on these nights."

Sango nodded. Inuyasha was not fun to be around when a human because he was normally pissed off due to the loss of his demon blood. He was not too fond of being human.

"I might as well go too," Sango said getting out of the water. Serena followed.

A few minutes later Serena was still at the water's edge, trying to wring the water out of her hair as much as possible. Sango and Kagome had already left to go back to camp on her urgings. She frowned at her scattered reflection in the water. "Something just doesn't feel right," she whispered to herself. It was then that she heard the screams.


	10. Chapter Nine

Oh! I'm so sorry! I kinda left ya all hanging with that last chapter, didn't I? Well, I managed to get this chapter out before the weekend started, right? So no reason to hurt me… right? Hee hee…

I want you to know that I sacrificed my naptime to finish writing the chapter I needed to write. And no, I'm not joking. I seriously take naps. What Uni student doesn't? :)

****

KhmerGirl: Hmm, because it's fun to torture you? Hee hee… no, not really, just because I like doing cliffhangers every once in a while.

****

X5-452Star: I'm glad you like my crossover. To tell you the truth, I don't read them that often either. I got tired of them not going the way I wanted them to. So finally, I decided to just make my own! You should try it, it's fun to have creative freedom! :)

****

Henio: Much thanks! Sorry it took so long to update though. And again, this isn't all that long. ::sigh:: I can't seem to get my chapters past 8 written pages. (err, I write small) But I'm trying for ya!

****

Kairinu: Sorry, but cliffhangers are fun! (Although, I hate them when I'm reading a story... how contradictory… hmm, oh well! ;) ) And I'll keep looking forward to your reviews!!

****

Jabba1: As I've said above, cliffhangers are fun (to write)! And besides, they keep the readers wanting more! ;) Err… looking ahead to what I've written… this chapter ends in a cliffhanger too… but the next one doesn't!

****

little-moonlight: Thank you! Glad you like it!

****

Prophetess Of Hearts: Oh! Don't worry, I won't abandon this story. I won't let myself do that!

****

Transcendant Pig: Thank ye! ;)

****

dizzy4: Oh! ::wipes away a tear:: I'm so happy! My first threat! Hee hee… errr… just no basements, please! I don't like basements…

All right, I'm going to explain before someone with a sharp eye comments about the remark I made to Jabba1. The "looking ahead to what I've written" remark. Yes, I've written past Chapter Nine. Actually, I just finished Chapter Eleven. WAIT! Before you start throwing things at me, let me explain!

I tend to abandon stories ::coughEternalLightcough:: and I don't want that happening with this story. It seems to help if I force myself to write a chapter before I post a chapter. Now, I don't want you to think that I'm holding chapters hostage for reviews because I do NOT do that! I promise I will *never* do that. I would post even if no one reviewed. I write mainly for myself, and I post my stories just in case someone else is interested in reading them. Besides, by writing ahead, it gives me time to reflect on what I've written and then improve on it when I type it up.

Okay, explanation finished, you can throw that now. ::ducks:: Hey! I was just kidding! Hmph… Fine... I'll just get to what you're really here to read…

____________________

Serena threw on her clothes and dashed to the camp, arriving only moments later. The scene that greeted her almost made her wish she had not come at all.

Her eyes were first drawn to the familiar looking stranger at one end of the camp. The woman was wearing red pants and a white top, a typical priestess outfit. "Kikyo," Serena whispered to herself, for it had to be her. Kikyo looked like a slightly older version of Kagome, just without the warmth and kindness that Kagome exuded. Although Kikyo's face was towards Serena, her body was turned to her right, as was her bow and arrow.

Serena tore her gaze from Kikyo and looked to see where the bow was pointing. Kagome stood in the line of fire, but was obviously not the intended target, for Inuyasha - it had to be him despite the black hair and eyes - already had one arrow protruding from him. He was pinned to a tree behind him through his left shoulder. He was alive, although in obvious pain.

Serena looked around for the rest of her friends. She could see Shippou's tail poking out from his hiding place behind Kagome's leg. To her right she saw Miroku slumped against a tree. She could not tell if the monk was unconscious or… but she finally saw him take a shuddery breath. Sango was kneeling next to him, unshed tears bright in her eyes. Kirara was by Sango's side, an unmistakably sad look on her face.

Then she saw the sight that chilled her heart to its core. Darien was lying on the ground, an arrow sticking out of his body right where his heart was. The already paling pallor of his skin confirmed her suspicions.

"W-why?" she managed to choke out. "Why did you kill him?"

"He got in the way," Kikyo answered, her voice emotionless, flat. Kikyo then turned her attention back to her targets. Serena saw her tighten her grip on the bow and steady the arrow. She saw her pull back on the bowstring, and saw, as if in slow motion, the release of the arrow.

"No!" Serena yelled. Before she was even aware of what she was doing, she was in front of Kagome, straight in the line of the arrow's path. Before anyone had a chance to call out, to scream, to cry, there was a flash of brilliant white light. When the light cleared Serena still stood, yet she seemed to exert an internal glow.

"No more." The voice was Serena's, and yet it was not. This voice held aged wisdom and deep sorrow. "I will not see another friend die. You will not steal another innocent soul. You will not be forgiven for killing my love!"

Kagome now held a trembling Shippou and tried to support Inuyasha to keep him standing. Sango and Kirara turned from their watch over Miroku. All eyes were on Serena in shock.

Serena slowly closed her eyes. As they closed the glow intensified, and seven rainbow colored jewels appeared from nowhere. One-by-one they were absorbed into Serena. Once her eyes were fully closed the glow became concentrated over her heart. Serena brought her hands up and held them in front of the glow. Her hands seemed to be pulling the glow from her chest, until she held between her hands a glowing crystal of silver.

Serena's eyes began to open again, but as they did a change overcame her. Her hair lengthened, her clothes melded together as her skirt stretched and lightened. Once her eyes were fully open she was dressed in a flowing white gown and had a tiara perched on her head. She held herself differently - regally almost - and her eyes now held all the knowledge and sorrow of one thrice her age.

"You killed my love, and that is unforgivable." Her voice was hard, yet grief obviously flowed beneath it. "I will be merciful on your soul however, because it does not belong to you nor did it choose to corrupt itself. Be at peace, Kikyo." With that, a flash of light burst from the crystal and launched itself straight inside of Kikyo. She made no sound as her body crumbled to dust, until all that was left was a black soul. But the light stayed and purified the soul until it was glowing almost as brilliantly as the silver crystal. Serenity watched as the soul flew to Kagome and entered her. Kagome turned her stare to the spot where the soul had entered, her face a mask of shock.

Serenity moved over to where Inuyasha was still pinned to the tree, an unreadable expression on his face. "I only hope that you will be able to forgive me," she said. She tapped the arrow once, and it dissolved allowing Inuyasha to finally sink to the ground. Kagome kept her grasp on his arm, and helped him to slide down the tree. Serenity did not wait for an answer, instead she moved over to where Miroku lay on the ground.

She kneeled beside him and saw that death attacked him in two places. One was an old death that was born weak but grew stronger as time progressed. The other was young and aggressive. One was entwined in his hand and the other swirled around his neck. Serenity knew that she could not do much for his hand, but she could for his neck. So she held the jewel over his heart, closed her eyes and prayed. Only moments later Miroku began to stir and slowly regain consciousness. Yet even after he opened his eyes Serenity remained in her position. Confusion was evident in his eyes, but Sango captured his attention with her finger placed over his lips, signaling him to not talk. Miroku closed his eyes and enjoyed the healing warmth that spread through his body. When it stopped, he felt disappointed, but opened his eyes again anyway. Serenity smiled down at him, tiredness beginning to float in her eyes. She got up and left without a word.

She moved now to Darien's side. Tears welled up, but refused to fall as she forcibly fought them back. She knelt by him and raised the crystal to the same position it had held over Miroku. Again she closed her eyes in prayer. This time the crystal began to glow, its brightness and intensity growing with every minute that passed, until after five minutes everybody watching had to shut their eyes. When the brightness in front of their closed lids faded, they reopened their eyes to an astonishing sight.

The woman who was not-quite-Serena was helping a now living Darien up. But the man was also not-quite-Darien, for he had a regal suit of armor and a sword at his side. The onlookers looked on in shock as the two who were obviously royalty appeared to freeze in place, their eyes both an eerie blank blue. They were oblivious to everyone and everything around them. Everyone else took the opportunity to talk.

"What in Buddha's name is going on?" Miroku asked, the only one not to see Serena's transformation.

"I'm not sure. It all happened so fast." Kagome said. Then she turned to Inuyasha. "Take off your shirt, I want to bandage that wound."

It took him a moment to respond.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah?" He shrugged out of his haori and slid his shirt to his waist.

Kagome winced when she saw the gapping wound in his shoulder, yet he seemed not to notice. She refrained from sighing, because she knew what, or rather _who_ was on his mind. She could not really blame him though, after all he had just watched the love of his life crumble away to dust. She had to force herself not to rub the spot where her soul had returned to her. She did not want to bring anymore reminders to Inuyasha, but the spot was starting to burn - an icy burn.

Kagome finished tying off the bandage and turned back to Serena and Darien, but they were still immobile. So she turned to Miroku.

"Hey, Miroku, why did Serena spend so much time over you?" she asked, leaning against the tree next to Inuyasha. Shippou was once again huddled in her arms.

Miroku shrugged. "All I remember is standing up when Kikyo entered the camp. It's all fuzzy from there."

"She blasted you into the tree," Inuyasha said. He was paying attention to everything going on around him, but his eyes and voice still had an emotionless quality to them.

"You were…" Shippou trailed off. Kagome looked down at him and smiled, encouraging him to continue on. "You were dying." Everyone's gaze fell on Shippou.

"Are you sure?" Kagome asked.

"He smelled like death, until Serena did... whatever she did."

Miroku nodded slightly. "I thought as much."

"You knew you were dying?" Sango asked him, emotions running rampant through her eyes.

He shrugged. "I felt... at peace with myself for the first time in a long time, but I did not fight when Serena called me back. I'm not ready to go quite yet." He looked right into Sango's eyes as he said this, and they gazed at each other for a long moment before Sango looked away with a blush.

Kagome saw this and grinned a little. "About time," she whispered, but no one seemed to hear her. Shippou was looking at Serena and Darien intently, so she joined the on looking. Her movements drew the rest of them to witness the scene too.

Serena and Darien were still locked in their blank gaze, but Serena now had tears streaming down her cheeks. Even Darien was shedding a few tears. As suddenly as it all started, it ended. Their eyes snapped back to seeing reality, but they never broke the lock on their gaze. In a flurry of tears Serena threw herself into Darien's arms, who readily accepted her. Within moments they were deep into a kiss.

Kagome, Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango looked on with blushes brushing their cheeks, but could not seem to tear their eyes from the sight. Kagome had the frame of mind at least to cover Shippou's eyes.

Even though they were all watching, none of them were sure when the clothes of royalty melted back into the clothes of a school girl and a college student. They did know though that the kiss was not broken until long after it happened.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Serena broke the kiss off once the burning need to breathe deeply hit her. Thoughts, emotions, memories were flowing through her, and she knew by looking into his eyes that Darien was going through the same thing. One overwhelming feeling was upon her though; she was tired. Very tired.

"You tired," Darien whispered. She smiled and nodded. Without a word to anyone else, he set picked her up only to lay her down on her blanket. He then laid down next to her. Within moments they were both asleep.

"Well, we're obviously not going to get anything out of them tonight," Miroku said, and the yawned. "We should get some sleep. It's only a few hours until sunrise." With that he laid down where he was, too tired to move. Sango went to her blanket, which was not far from where Miroku was.

Kagome took Shippou off of her lap and stoop up. She looked down at Inuyasha. The same blank expression was on his face, and had been there ever since she had regained the lost portion of her soul. She absently rubbed the burning spot on her chest. "Wake me up if you need me." She waited for a moment, but he did not respond. With a sigh she moved to her sleep bag and cuddled into the warmth. She felt an icy chill shudder down her spine and so was glad when Shippou crawled in to add to the warmth.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Serena woke up with a groan. Her head hurt and her body ached. She touched the brooch on her chest and was slightly surprised to find that the crystal was there.

"So it wasn't a dream," she whispered to herself. She sat up and looked around. Darien was at her side, sleeping peacefully. Miroku and Sango were sleeping side-by-side with Kirara next to Sango. Kagome was huddled deep inside her sleeping bag, and Serena assumed Shippou was there too.

Then she turned to Inuyasha. He was awake and looking at her. She looked right back at him. She could see the sorrow in his eyes, pain, confusion but to her relief there was no anger. Still, she felt the need to apologize.

"I-I'm so sorry. I wasn't completely in control of my actions - but, but I could've stopped myself. I could've, but Darien was - Darien was dead, and I didn't want to. I'm sorry!" Tears were coursing down her cheeks and she forced herself not to sob. Inuyasha did not say anything, but he hesitantly nodded. Serena knew it would be awhile before she was completely forgiven, but she could not blame him for any hidden anger towards her.

She was about to lie back down, but at that moment the sun crested the horizon and Inuyasha's demon blood came roaring back. Serena watched in amazement as the black as night hair flowed into a shining silver. Dog ears seemed to grow out of the top of his head, and his eyes changed to gold within a blink. He stretched and then rubbed his shoulder where the wound was already healing up. He did an experimental sniff in the air and Serena watched as he stiffened up, an almost panicked look on his face.

"Kagome!" he called out. With that yell, the rest of the group began to awaken, all except for Kagome, who remained huddled in her sleeping bag.

Inuyasha was at her side in one jump, pulling down the top of the bag. Serena gasped at the sight that was revealed.

Kagome was curled up in a fetal position, hands clutching her chest. Her skin was pale - almost white - and when Serena moved to her side and shook her shoulder, her skin was painfully cold to the touch. The only sign of hope was the shallow breaths that she took once in a great while.

"Come on Kagome, wake up!" Inuyasha pleaded, gently shaking her shoulders. "What's wrong with you?" He fought the desperation from his voice. Seeing Kikyo die and then now watching Kagome fade away was too much for even him.

"I think I know what's wrong," Serena said. A thought - no, a memory - had come to her mind. She knew of this happening before, but it had been another life, and it was her mother who had fixed it. Now though it was up to her, the last survivor of the Moon Kingdom, excluding Luna.

"What? What is it?" Inuyasha urged.

"She - she doesn't want to accept the missing part of her soul."

"What?! What's that supposed to mean?"

"She's fighting that portion of her soul - not letting it rejoin."

"Why would she do that?" Inuyasha looked down at Kagome and winced at the pain he saw on her face.

"I don't know, but I mean to find out." She thought for a moment, then nodded to herself. "Inuyasha, could you, would you mind holding her? She needs warmth and a familiar essence."

Without hesitation Inuyasha scooped Kagome up. He sat leaning against a tree and cradled her in his lap. Serena moved so that she was kneeling in front of him and Kagome. With a mere thought from her mind the silver crystal floated out of her brooch and to her hand. It was then that Darien realized her intentions.

"Serena, don't!" He jumped up and ran to her side. She looked up at him with a smile.

"Don't worry Darien, it's not more than I can handle. I'm not really going to use the crystal's power, I'm just going to use it to help focus my thoughts."

He did not look too convinced, but relented. "Just be careful." He planted a kiss on her forehead and sat down.

Inuyasha looked on as this happened, holding Kagome closer to him, trying to warm her icy skin. He hoped Serena would not get hurt doing whatever she was going to do, but there was no way he was going to stop her. Not if this was Kagome's only chance to survive.

Serena settled into her kneel more comfortably and held the crystal in front of her in a prayer like state. She knew she had to use it to focus her thoughts so that she could communicate with Kagome. Rei had once, after persistent begging, tried to teach her how to use the sacred fire, but she could not seem to focus in on the flames. Serena now knew though that fire was Rei's element, and only hers. For Serena, her element was purity, and the crystal was the epitome of her purity.

She closed her eyes and began to chant the words that Rei had taught her. At first nothing happened, but then, within an instant, she was snapped from her own reality and pulled into another's - Kagome's.

__________________

Okay, so not much of a cliffhanger, but it is one. 

I normally won't do author's notes at the end of a chapter because, well, I just don't like to. But I had something that I wanted to say that I didn't want to say at the beginning. (It would have spoiled the "surprise" in the chapter of Kikyo showing up.)

What I wanted to say is that, I do not hate Kikyo! Her motives will be revealed in a later chapter, along with some of what I believe is going on in the story. (I just *love* writing these "talkie" chapters! Actually, I don't, but sometimes they are necessary.) The whole killing Darien thing was just a plot device... she really didn't want to kill him. Again, that will be gone over in a later chapter.

Okay, enough of this "later chapter" stuff! I just want to repeat... I am not a Kikyo hater. I just don't like Kikyo and Inuyasha together as a couple. I'm a Inuyasha/Kagome person through and through!


	11. Chapter Ten

Well, Chapter Twelve flowed out really smoothly, so you guys didn't have to wait for this chapter so long! Err, that just won't be happening for the next chapter. It'll more than likely be more than a week before I post more, but we'll see.

Angst warning! Yeah, this chapter goes slightly to the angst side, but I don't think it's all that bad.

I looked forward to what I've written so far, and the next couple of chapters are nothing but talkies. No action whatsoever. Sorry… I guess we've got to get through the talking to get to some of the action. Although, come to think of it, there's not really going to be that much action. ::shrug:: I suck at writing it! :)

****

slvrstarlight: Thank you! You should try it. I've read some of your stories before and you're a great author! ;)

****

shadinah: Thanks!

****

AprilSailormoon: Thank you. I'm glad you liked it! :)

****

Henio: Here ya go! A whole two days to update! :) Err… this probably won't happen much…

****

KhmerGirl: Yeah, sorry I kept you waiting so long on the last one. But I think I made up for it with how quickly this one came out!

****

Simply a Lady: Curse you! (err, no, not really, I'm just kidding!) What I mean is, is that I started reading "A love that can transcend Time" and got sidetracked into not typing this up! It's really good, and I can't wait for more!

****

EmeraldLady: ::sniff sniff:: All right… I'll be a good author and post this chapter for ya! ;)

****

Jabba1: Thanx Abby! Glad ya liked it! Hope you like this one too. :)

All right, onto the story!

____________________

Serena slowly opened her mind's eye. The sight that greeted her was familiar, yet eerily misty. Kagome was sitting on the edge of the Bone Eater's Well with her feet also on the edge, hugging her knees. Although the scenery was much like it was in reality there was one major difference. At the corner of the well, in fact, Kagome was leaning against it, was the God Tree. The same tree where Inuyasha had been pinned for fifty years.

Kagome had not noticed her yet. She was just leaning against the tree with tears pouring out of her closed eyes.

"Kagome." Serena called out softly, not wanting to startle her. Kagome looked up and seemed surprised to see her.

"Serena? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see what's wrong. Why are you doing this to yourself?" She moved closer until she too was sitting on the edge of the well.

"What do you mean?" Kagome seemed to be genuinely clueless about Serena's question.

Serena sighed. She had not wanted to be so direct, but she had no choice.

"What aren't you accepting your soul?"

Kagome seemed to be staring at something behind Serena, so she turned around to look. Barely able to be seen in the mist stood Kikyo. She was motionless and there was no life to her eyes. Serena realized with a start that this was the rest of Kagome's soul.

"I don't want it," Kagome said in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Why not?"

"I don't want another part of her." Kagome's voice got louder. "Everything I have is hers, I don't want anymore."

"What do you mean?! The soul was yours to begin with!"

"No it wasn't! I am nothing but her reincarnation! For all I know, even the love I feel for Inuyasha wasn't my choice," the tears restarted at this admission. "Do you know how much that hurts? To not know if I truly love Inuyasha or not? I have given up everything for him… what if it's only because Kikyo loved him?"

"Do you really believe that you only love Inuyasha because Kikyo did? Tell me, what do you think a soul is all about?"

Kagome looked up at Serena, but did not say anything.

"A soul transfers abilities from life to life, and that includes some physical characteristics as well. The reason why you have the priestess powers you have are because of Kikyo, yes, but that's it. Your heart and your mind are you own. Your heart chose to love Inuyasha with its own free will. Your mind choose to trust Inuyasha on its own."

"I guess, but…"

"Kagome! Can you honestly tell me that deep down your love for Inuyasha is false?"

"No," she replied without hesitation. "No, my love is real," she said with assurance. "I guess I already knew that. All the same though, how do I _know_ that it is my love and not Kikyo's. It can be Kikyo's love and yet still be real."

Serena thought that one through. Although it did not make much sense to her, she supposed it made perfect sense in the dark recesses of Kagome's mind.

"Answer these questions for me. Do you love Inuyasha when he's human?"

"Yes."

"Do you love Inuyasha as a half demon?"

"Of course."

"Do you love Inuyasha as a full demon?"

"Yes."

Serena noted that Kagome did not hesitate to say that she loved Inuyasha as a full demon. She had told her about how Inuyasha tended to become completely centered on killing whenever his demon blood takes control. To be able to love Inuyasha as a full demon was saying a lot.

"Have you ever considered spending the rest of your life with him?"

Kagome nodded and blushed.

"Would you stay with him as he is, a half demon?"

Kagome nodded vigorously.

"Would you make him become full human?"

"No! I've told you that! Being human makes him unhappy, and all I want is for him to be happy."

"So if him being happy means Inuyasha as a full demon, would you still want to be with him?"

"Yes. Inuyasha is Inuyasha, no matter what form he is in. I have faith that he wouldn't turn into the killing machine that he fears he would. I believe that the Shikon jewel would not allow it."

"I hope you're right. But now think for a moment. If Kikyo had never died in the first place, what would have happened?"

Kagome already knew the answer to that.

"She would have had Inuyasha use the jewel to become human, so that the jewel would disappear and she could be normal."

"And if he had refused to become human?"

"I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have stayed with him."

"And if he had become a full demon?"

Kagome had to consider that for a moment, and she frowned when she answered. "I think she would have killed him."

"You see! That's how you know that your love for Inuyasha is both real and your own. You have no rules that have to be met in order for you to want to be with him. Can you see that?"

"Yeah, I do." Kagome said with a hesitant nod.

"Good. So, will you take back your soul now?"

"No."

Serena looked at her in shock. "Why not?!"

"He'll hate me."

"What makes you think that?"

"Because I'll be alive and Kikyo won't. Not like she was alive anyways, but she was there. Kikyo was there for him to see, to hug… to kiss. He doesn't want that with me, because he loves her. Inuyasha loves Kikyo." Kagome hugged her knees even tighter, and started to shiver.

Serena sighed. "I can't say how Inuyasha feels, because I don't know. I do know though that he is really worried about you. He didn't snap out of his depression this morning until he discovered that you were in trouble. What do you think will happen if you don't accept your soul and just fade away? Do you think he'd be happy about that? No, he'd be even worse than last night. He would miss you, Kagome."

Kagome snorted as well as she could around her tears. "Sure, he'd miss his shard detector."

"You're right, he'd miss his shard detector. But he'd also miss his _friend_. Do you really think he'd risk his life to protect you just because you can see some jewel? That's not a reason! Do you remember when I was upset about my fight with Darien?" Kagome nodded. "Well, one of the things I was upset about was my friends getting hurt because of me, but Darien explained it to me. He said they protect me because they believe in me, and because they are my friends. I'm sure the same goes for Inuyasha. He protects you because he believes in you and you are his friend."

"Do, do you really think that he considers me as a friend?"

"I'm sure he does. I haven't known him for long, but I know friendship when I see it."

Kagome seemed to be considering something quite hard.

"So, you think he won't hate me because I'm alive and Kikyo isn't?"

"No, Kagome, he won't hate you. If he hates anyone, it should be me. I'm the one that did it."

"Yeah, but I didn't try to stop you."

"Believe me, Kagome, you couldn't have stopped me. I - wasn't technically myself at that moment, and all I wanted was revenge for Darien's death. Nothing could have stopped me at that moment. Nothing."

"So, Inuyasha doesn't hate me?" Kagome asked, needed to be reassured once more.

"No, he doesn't hate you."

"Then - then I think I'm ready to accept my soul."

Serena gave a sigh of relief. Not only was Kagome going to be okay, but she had called it _her_ soul.

"But how do I take it back?"

The question caught Serena off guard. "I - I'm not sure." She turned around to look at Kikyo, and almost screamed out of fright when she saw Kikyo standing almost next to her. "Don't do that!" She held a hand over her rapidly beating heart, but then took a good look at Kikyo. No longer did she have the eyes and face of a lifeless woman with a cold heart. Her face was now soft and kind and a small smile graced her lips. Her eyes sparkled with life and joy. Serena then knew how to get Kagome back.

"Embrace Kikyo."

"What?!" Kagome asked, shocked and a little appalled.

Serena pointed to Kikyo. "This is a representation of the part of your soul that Kikyo had. Look at her. She doesn't look like Kikyo did, she looks more like you."

Kagome looked at Kikyo with scrutiny. Her eyes filled with understanding. "So that means…"

Serena nodded. "Yeah. Your soul is pure again. It is no longer tainted with hatred."

Kagome looked relieved. "So I can take it back, and I won't be tainted with any residual hatred?"

Serena nodded. "You can take it back without fear now. Are you ready to?"

Kagome nodded without hesitation.

"Good, I'll see you soon then."

The girls smiled at each other before Serena closed her mind's eye.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

When Serena opened her eyes she was struck by the painful light of the morning sun. She blinked rapidly for a few moments until she could see again. But then the massive headache hit her and she massaged her forehead with a groan. She then took a moment to return the crystal to her brooch.

"What happened?" a soft voice asked in her ear as a warm arm encircled her waist. She leaned back gratefully into Darien's chest. She directed her answer to Inuyasha though.

"She got stuck in the darkest corner of her mind. Her thoughts wouldn't let her accept her soul. I just had to help her sort some things out."

Inuyasha nodded to show he heard, but he never lifted his gaze from Kagome's face. Serena looked at Kagome and was glad to see she was looking better.

"It may take her a few minutes to come to. Who knows how long it will take for her soul to rejoin itself," Serena said with a shrug. Then she turned her head to look at Darien. "Can we talk?" He nodded and helped her up. She lead him away from camp.

"What's up?" Darien asked.

Serena bit her lip, gathering her thoughts before speaking. "Something Kagome said got me thinking." Serena sighed and looked Darien in the eye. "I just want you to know that just because we have Serenity's and Endymion's souls and memories, I don't expect you to still feel the same way."

Worry filled Darien, along with fear. "Are you saying that you don't feel the same way?"

"NO!" Serena shouted. "No, I still feel the same way. I did even before last night," she admitted with a blush. "I'm just saying I don't expect anything from you."

Darien took Serena into his arms. "What I feel for you hasn't changed over the centuries. What I felt for Serenity - for you - a millennia ago is the same as a felt for you a week ago. I love you Serena, and nothing is going to stop me."

Serena smiled up at him, now blushing a deep pink. "I love you too."

Darien bent down to kiss her, but was stopped by a yawn.

"Sorry," Serena said with an embarrassed giggle, "but that took a lot out of me."

Darien picked her up in his arms and she let out a surprised squeal. "Well, then we'll just have to finish that later. For now, you need to get some sleep."

Serena was not about to argue. In fact, she was asleep by the time they got back to camp. So once again Darien set her down and laid down next to her. This time though he spooned her body into his and held her around her waist. He did not sleep. Instead he rested his head on his hand and watched to make sure that Kagome was truly okay.

Sango and Miroku smiled at the couple when they came back. They had sat nervously watching Kagome, hoping she would not leave them. Now that she would be all right, they could appreciate the worry Inuyasha was exuding. They had never seen him quite so worried about Kagome before. There had even been some moments where it looked like he was blinking back tears, but they could not be sure.

Shippou sat in Sango's lap where he was, in his mind, being held captive. He wanted nothing more than to be with Kagome, where he would be better able to make sure that she was alive. He knew that Inuyasha would not tolerate his presence until Kagome was safely asleep. So he sat, bidding his time…

Inuyasha looked down at Kagome, his eyes taking in the red flush of her cheeks, so different from the paleness of minutes before. His ears took in her steady heartbeat that had been failing moments ago. He concentrated on her breathing. There had been a moment while Serena was trying to help her when her breathing had stopped. At that moment his own heart had quit beating, and panic had swelled at the thought of her dying. But his fears were relieved a moment later when she started breathing again, even easier than she had before. Now, it was just a matter of time before she regained consciousness. In fact, her eyes were beginning to flicker, trying to open.

"Kagome." Inuyasha said softly.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, as if from far away. Once her eyes opened though, a small smile graced her lips. But then she frowned. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" She shook her head. "You weren't taking back your soul."

Kagome's eyes filled with tears as she remembered, one hand absently rubbed the phantom burn on her chest.

"What's wrong?" Inuyasha asked, not even capable of hiding the concern in his voice.

Kagome snapped back to reality, but the tears would not quit. "N-nothing. I'm okay now."

"You don't look okay." He winced at that remark and got ready for the scream that was sure to come. It never did.

"S-sorry, but I just don't want to talk about it right now."

"All right, I'm here when you're ready to talk." He ignored the shocked look on her face and turned to Sango and Miroku. "Grab a blanket, Sango," he ordered. Sango did as he impolitely asked and handed him a blanket. Inuyasha took the blanket and tucked it around Kagome. She looked up at him uncertainly. "Get some sleep."

"Shouldn't we get going?" she asked, but made no attempt to move.

Inuyasha shook his head. "You need some rest. Besides, Serena's out and it doesn't look like she'll be getting up any time soon."

Kagome looked over to see Serena and Darien spooned into each other. Serena was sound asleep, while Darien was pretending to look at anything but them.

"Hmm, it's nice to see them together," Kagome said, turning back to look at Inuyasha.

"Keh. Go to sleep, wench."

Kagome held back a giggle. 'Wench' just did not sound right in his current soft tone of voice. She closed her eyes and snuggled into Inuyasha. She enjoyed the feeling of his arms tightening around her. It may have been the second time she had fallen asleep in Inuyasha's arms in almost as many days, but she was not going to take it for granted. She knew he would return to normal the next day, so she was going to soak in as much of his warmth as she could. She fell asleep in his warm arms, at last content.


	12. Chapter Eleven

Hey all, sorry it's taken so long to get this out! Chapter Thirteen actually came out pretty quickly, once I sat down and actually wrote it. :) Chapter Fourteen won't be the same… because I'm not sure what it's exactly going to be about. :\ BUT, if I can't come up with anything by next Monday, then I'll just go ahead and post Chapter Twelve anyway.

****

Milady Goddess: Glad you like it! ;)

****

X5-452Star: Phew! I'm glad someone liked it! I just figured that nothing really goes smoothly for poor Kagome, so why should getting her soul back go without a hitch? Thank you for the encouragement, it's *much* appreciated!!

****

Henio: Sorry it took so long! But I'm glad your enjoying the story!

****

KhmerGirl: I'm being evil with making you wait, aren't I? :) I'll try harder to get them out faster, I promise!!

****

Yuki Asao: I'm hurrying! I'm hurrying! ;)

****

dizzy4: Good! I'm glad no basement for me! I think that Inuyasha and Kagome just belong together, don't you? I don't hate Kikyo or Kouga (or even Hojo, for that matter), but they just need to stay away from Inuyasha and Kagome! :)

****

Kitty: err… did you even bother to read any of the story? The pairings are Inuyasha/Kagome, Serena/Darien and Miroku/Sango. I will rarely, if ever, stray from those pairings in my stories.

****

Chelsea C: Ooo, then you're *really* going to hate me later on! ::evil giggle:: But, I know whatcha mean! It'll come... eventually! ;)

****

Prophetess of Hearts: Gotta love the fluff-factor! Glad ya like!

All right… onto another exciting ::beep!:: err… okay the lie detector went off, so I cannot tell a lie. This ain't very exciting. Just more talking. But there are some explanations, so it's worthwhile to read. (Oh, and I go off from normal Sailor Moon tracks here. You'll see.)

______________________

When Serena woke up again the sun was way past its zenith. She tried to sit up, but realized that something around her waist was weighing her down. She blushed when she realized it was Darien's arm. She could hear his light breaths, so knew he was asleep. She occupied her time by checking on what her friends were up to.

Not far from where she lay sat Miroku and Sango. They were sitting close to each other, both asleep. Sango had her head rested on Miroku's shoulder, while his cheek rested on her head. Serena could already see the embarrassment that they would suffer when they woke up. She noted with a barely repressed 'awwwe' that Kirara was sleeping half on Sango's lap and half on Miroku's lap, on her back, feet up in the air.

She had to repress another 'awwwe' when she saw Kagome, Shippou and Inuyasha. It was not that Shippou was curled up on Kagome's stomach or that Kagome was cuddled in Inuyasha's arms. No, it was that Inuyasha was sleeping with his chin resting on Kagome's head and for the first time since Serena had met him there was nothing but peaceful contentment on his face. No arrogance. No attitude. No worries.

Serena saw stirred from her thoughts then, for Darien was waking up. She turned over in his arms and looked into his sleep blurred blue eyes. He blinked a few times and then smiled. Before she knew what was happening he had claimed her lips in a gentle kiss. She hesitated for a moment before kissing back. The kiss began to get more and more passionate, but they interrupted when someone loudly cleared their throat. They broke apart slowly, blushing madly, and turned to see who had interrupted them.

"About time. We've been trying to get you two apart for awhile," Miroku said with a lecherous grin. It was impossible to determine who had been the one to break them apart because everyone was awake and staring at them. Serena had to wonder _'Just how long were we kissing?!'_

Serena decided to draw the attention elsewhere, and targeted Kagome, who was now sitting on the ground next to Inuyasha.

"So, you're okay now?" Serena asked Kagome.

Kagome nodded and then moved over to Serena to wrap her in a hug. "Thank you. I couldn't have worked that out on my own." Kagome whispered into her ear.

Serena pulled back with a smile. "No problem. Just don't make me do it again!" she teased.

Kagome grimaced and shuddered. "_I_ don't want to do it again. I don't like feeling that helpless."

Serena smiled a comforting smile. "No one likes to feel helpless, but as long as you have friends who care about you, you never will be helpless." Then she pulled Kagome into another hug.

Tears sprang into Kagome's eyes but she fought them back. Instead she returned to Inuyasha's side, and decided to return the attention back to Serena.

"So what happened last night?"

Everyone turned their attention to Serena and Darien. They were all curious as to what exactly had gone on with the two.

"Well, I guess I'll start," Serena said, holding back a sigh. "Last night after I heard the screams - I guess it was Kagome and Sango -" they nodded in confirmation "I came running back. I saw Inuyasha pinned to the tree and Miroku unconscious on the ground. When I saw Darien though and realized he was - he was gone, something inside me snapped, let loose almost. I held it down until I saw Ki - until I saw Kagome being aimed at by an arrow. Once I saw it scenes began to flash before my eyes, almost like memories. But they were very strange memories." Serena closed her eyes for a moment and shuddered. Darien pulled her closer to him by an arm around her waist. She opened her eyes, able to continue on borrowed strength.

"I saw my friends - my scouts - dying. Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mercury were there, but so were scouts that I have yet to see. Yet I instinctively knew they were all my friends. I watched for what seemed like an hour as each of my friends were - killed, but it must have been only milliseconds because when I saw reality again I was looking at Kikyo. I began to talk, it was my voice, yet it wasn't. It definitely wasn't my words, but I had no control over what I was saying. I knew then that something - someone - was taking over me. I didn't care though. It felt right - familiar almost. When my eyes closed though I seemed to fuse with this person, and we were both allowed to talk and move. I let her have control though. She seemed to know what she was doing, she knew not to be afraid of the power growing inside me. Once my eyes opened I knew what was going on. I was the very person I was looking for. The Moon Princess - Princess Serenity.

"Serenity - for it was her then, she held the memories and not I - Serenity was angry, but she was holding back tears. I could see what was making her angry. It was a vision replaying over and over again. An image of a man, who looked like Darien, dressed in regal armor. Over and over again she saw him dying by the hands of a woman - an evil woman. The more she saw the angrier she got. So angry that I began to feel it myself. So, when she began to use the crystal to purify Kikyo, I didn't stop her because the image of Darien laying so still with that arrow in his chest brought such similar emotions to me." Serena had to refrain herself from apologizing again. She had done it enough, for now. She hoped she would be able to talk to Inuyasha privately later on.

"After Kikyo was - gone, I made Serenity - I made us - check on you all. She - I - we," Serena shook her head and smiled a little. "Sorry, this is confusing, even to me!" She sighed. "Anyways, we knew Inuyasha would heal soon, so we just got rid of the arrow. Miroku, on the other hand, was a little worse off." All attention went to Miroku, who just shrugged. "Miroku had had his neck broken, just badly enough so that it was fatal, but not enough to be instant death. Which was a good thing, because it was easier to bring him back." Serena smiled at him. "Miroku, you had death calling you from two points." Miroku nodded in understanding as he unconsciously clenched his right hand into a fist. "Obviously I got rid of the death that hovered around your neck, but as you know I couldn't rid you of the death that surrounds your hand." Miroku gave a curt nod. "I did however buy you some more time."

"What?" Miroku asked, keeping his emotions in check. He was unable though to keep the light of hope from shining in his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"You should be fine for years to come," Serena said with a smile. "We couldn't get rid of death, but I was able to scare it away for awhile." She brightened her smile at the dumbfounded look of shock on Miroku's face. "Oh, and Miroku?" He looked at her, once again composed. "You'd better not waste your time, or I just might reverse it." She smiled to show she was joking, but looked at Sango pointedly for a few moments. The two of them stole a glance at each other and blushed, but Miroku took the opportunity to take Sango's hand. She hesitated for a moment, but then grasped it back.

"After we were done healing Miroku we moved to Darien. I thought nothing could be done, but Serenity knew otherwise. She used to silver crystal so skillfully, I thought I would never figure out how to use it, but then I felt it. The silver crystal is not a tool that can be used by just anyone. It is an extension of a soul, my soul, and only I can use it." She shook her head to rid herself from those thoughts. "Sorry, I'm getting off track. Anyway, Serenity called Darien's soul back, but when she did, it triggered something in him, I guess. I saw him become a prince - Prince Endymion. When I looked into his eyes everything came back to me, and I was no longer just Serena, but also Princess Serenity.

"I was born a millennia ago, on the moon, during the Silver Millennium. My Mother ruled the Moon Kingdom, which included all the planets except for Earth."

Darien broke in and talked for the first time. "I was born here on Earth several years before Serena - Serenity. My parents were the rulers of Earth. Back then we ruled the entire world without contest, yet were unaware of the Moon Kingdom's existence. When representatives first appeared on the behalf of Queen Serenity I must admit there was some panic, but in that day magic was common, so it was easy to accept that there were others in the universe.

"My parents were not pleased with the idea of ruling under someone else, but they were intrigued by those from the other planets. They were busy rulers though, so they sent me to the moon in their place."

Serena giggled. "I was so mad when Mother told me I had to show Prince Endymion around. I never liked meeting dignitaries from the planets. But, then I saw the Prince of Earth and changed my mind."

"I wasn't too happy either! My parents didn't ask me if I wanted to go, they just made me. I changed my mind about the whole thing too when I saw the Moon Princess."

Kagome gave a happy little sigh. "So it was love at first sight for both of you?"

Serena and Darien nodded and smiled at each other, hands clasped.

"Needless to say there were many trips back and forth between the Moon and Earth," Darien said. "Our parents approved of the match and we were to be married when Serenity turned eighteen."

"I was just fifteen at the time, so we weren't exactly rushing things," Serena assured. "We were happy for a while, but then," the smiles fell from both Serena and Darien's faces.

"But then," Darien continued, "rumors began to reach the Moon of a gathering evil. The Outer Sailor Scouts were on alert for signs of trouble, and it soon arrived. I had four guardians that were as much my friends as my guards. Yet one day they disappeared and it was determined that they had gone with the new lurking evil. Whether by choice or by force we never knew. Regardless of how it happened, it ruined our lives."

Serena took over the story. "My Mother was uneasy about the disappearance of Endy's guards. She felt it had been done too easily, and so cut off all contact with Earth. Which led to the breaking of the engagement by Endy's parents. I can't blame either of our parents though, I guess, but I was really upset about it all.

"When my sixteenth birthday came a month later there was a huge ball in my honor, and all the royalty from the planets were there, except for Earth's of course. But then a mysterious man came in. He wore a mask and a tuxedo. Since it was a masquerade ball, I wasn't sure who it was. He didn't wear any of the royal colors or bear a royal mark. Yet the second he took my hand and looked into my eyes, I knew who it was."

"I knew that either of our planets could be attacked at any time," Darien said. "But I had to see Serenity again. It wasn't hard to make it past the guards; everyone was too distracted by the festivities. And that was their downfall."

"That was everyone's downfall," Serena took over. "since all the royalty from the planets were at my ball, so were a good majority of the guards. Which left the planets unprotected. They were gone - everything destroyed - in such a short period of time that there was no warning. So when they attacked the moon we were unprepared. The outlying guards were wiped out surprisingly fast. And then they attacked us. I wasn't allowed to fight, I never was even though I could. And that's when I saw my friends - falling." Darien squeezed her hand comfortingly. "We were caught off guard and easily destroyed. Even after millennias of relative peace we had strong, capable warriors with powerful magic. The Sailor Scouts were the most powerful but even the guards could hold their own. Despite everything though, we were defeated. Everyone - gone." Tears began to run down Serena's cheeks, and finally she gave up and buried her head in Darien's chest, sobbing.

"We all died. Everyone on the moon was wiped out. I-I was gone before it all ended, so I'm not sure how we are here now."

"M-Mother," Serena said, lifting her head back up. She tried to stop her tears, but was not completely successful. "Mother did it. She sent our souls forward to be reborn. She managed to end the battle, killing off the last of Beryl's minions - for it was Beryl's army. Mother wanted to give us all a second change to live and be happy, but in the end she was unable to sort out between the souls of the good and those of the enemy. We were all sent forward, and I guess Beryl found enough of her old people and some new ones to start trying to take over the universe again."

There was silence for a long while after the tale was finished. Miroku broke the silence in a quiet voice.

"Earth was spared?"

"Beryl was saving Earth for last." Serena explained. "She wanted Earth as the planet where she would rule from. And she wanted Endymion to rule by her side."

They all turned to look at Darien.

"Hey! It wasn't like I knew! I'm not even sure how she knew me. She came from no where near here, I think she was from a nearby galaxy." Blank looks were returned to him from all but Kagome and Serena. He sighed. "Never mind."

"It's probably because he - Endymion - was the only prince who was unmarried. Our generation had a shortage of princes." She smiled at Darien. "I got the last one." Then she turned to her friends. "And that's our story, what we remember of it, anyway."

The friends stared at each other for awhile, no one quite sure of what to say.

Finally Kagome broke the silence. "Well, it's getting late." She stood up and moved to her bag. "We should eat some dinner."

Sango and Serena got up to help her and Kagome coaxed Shippou into helping too. No one talked over the quiet sounds of the girls' preparation of dinner, they were all too busy thinking. One person found even the soft crackle of the fire to be too loud for his thoughts.

"I'm going for a walk," Inuyasha said as he stood up. No one stopped him as he left, but Kagome watched as he left, a sad gleam in her eye.

He did not return for dinner and by the time they were done eating, Kagome was visibly worried.

"He's been gone for over an hour, I'm going after him," Kagome said. But Serena put a restraining hand on her arm.

"Don't. I'll go talk to him." Kagome frowned at her. "I hate to say it, but you're probably the last person right now that he'd open up his emotions to." Serena could see the hurt in Kagome's eyes. "Kagome, right now the only thing on his mind is probably you and Kikyo. Do you really want to hear him talk about Kikyo? Do you think he'd talk to you about... you?"

Kagome shook her head. "No, he would never talk to me about me. But I could handle hearing about Kikyo if it helped him. I have a ... slightly better understanding of her now."

Serena knew that Kagome would listen to Inuyasha talk about Kikyo if it would help him to heal, but it would probably only break her heart in the process.

"Kagome, please just let me talk to him. If he won't, then I'll send you."

Kagome sighed. "All right. But how will you find him?"

Serena shrugged. "I've always been able to find my friends if I need to. If I can't find him on instinct, then I'll be able to find him if I transform." She stood up and smiled down at Kagome. "Don't worry. Everything will be okay. Just give it some time."

Kagome nodded and returned a small smile. She hoped that Inuyasha would be okay with all of her heart. She wanted her brash, arrogant, irritating half demon back. She could not stand to see the depression that lurked behind his golden eyes. She sighed. _'Will life ever be normal again?'_ She had to bite back a laugh. _'Then again, what is normal anymore?'_ Kagome sat back and waited for the return of her friends.


	13. Chapter Twelve

Howdy! I know, I know, this isn't Monday. But remember, I said if I couldn't come up with an idea for Chapter Fourteen then I'd post on Monday. Well, Chapter Fourteen is devised and written. :) But I'll have you know, I'm staying up late tonight (Tuesday night) to get this to you ASAP! :) Just cause I love ya all! ;)

So, here goes… with my 'Rent' soundtrack and my hot tea. I'm addicted to hot tea. Ever since New Zealand… lol, I guess that's what being in a British country will do to ya! Enough babbling… onto the review responses!!

****

X5-452Star: Yeah, I wasn't very happy with Chapter Eleven either. Sometimes ya just gotta give up though. I don't let it happen often, but I just couldn't be helped. :(

****

KhmerGirl: Well, here ya go! Enjoy! ;)

****

Henio: Thank you!

****

Birdgirl: I'll address the crossover issue further down… But thank you for reading! I'm not planning on stopping my writing any time soon! ;)

****

Jabba1: Yeah, Kikyo is a heel when it comes to Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship. She just needs to give up! :) But, oh, are you going to hate me for this chapter! Nothing is ever easy in the life of Kagome… ;)

****

Prophetess of Hearts: True, there is no normal normal but there is normal. Confusing you yet? Well, I actually go over my 'philosophy of normal' a little bit in this chapter. ;)

****

Simply a Lady: Well more ya got! (Still enjoying your story, btw. Sorry I'm not reviewing, but my computers being a heel.) :)

****

Yuki Asao: I went as fast as I could! ;)

****

Sakura-ayame33: Thank you! Yeah, Sailor Moon and Inuyasha are my favorite animes!

****

Lady Tristana Rouge: Hey, no worries! There is no way I'm abandoning *this* fic!

BTW… I want to thank everyone who's reviewed so far! I love ya all! You really do inspire me to write! ;)

All right, a few things to cover before we continue on to the chapter. 

1) Do you want to me to switch this over to Sailor Moon Crossovers? I don't care myself, so it's all up to you guys. If I did switch, would you go over to the Crossovers section to read this?

2) My philosophy of normal (an abridged version) appears in this chapter, so just bear with me. Yes, it does have relevancy to the story! Actually, funny thing is, I didn't realize that this was my philosophy until after I wrote this. I just made so much sense to my life. 

Enough chatter. Read the chapter! ;) [Beware! Lots of sighing ahead!]

__________________

As Serena said, she was able to find Inuyasha without trouble. He was sitting atop of a nearby hill, staring up at the sky. Serena moved quietly, but she knew that he could sense her anyway. Neither said anything as she settled herself next to him and stargazed. It was five minutes before the silence was broken.

"I heard everything you said," Inuyasha said in a quiet voice.

"Oh?" Serena responded, already sure of what he was referring to. "I wasn't aware that I was actually talking out loud."

"You were just mumbling, but I heard you fine." He twitched his ears pointedly.

Serena smiled up at his ears before looking at his profile. "And?"

He turned to look at her. "And what?"

"Why did you bring up the fact that you heard my side of the conversation?"

He said nothing for several more minutes. When he did speak, his voice was low and slightly timid. "Does she really…?"

"Love you?" Serena guessed. He nodded his head. "With all of her heart. She just had a lot of doubts hidden away."

"Did she really think that I didn't care about her? At least even as a friend?" The look on his face was one of unmistakable hurt.

Serena smiled her most comforting smile at him. "As I said, they were hidden doubts. Everyone has doubts about their friends intentions sometimes. It's normal."

He nodded, but did not look a hundred percent convinced. Then he sighed. "She really is an idiot if she doesn't think I see her as a friend. She's the first person who ever truly accepted me as I am. I care... deeply for her. But I'm not ready to say that I…"

"That you love her." He nodded. "Have you ever really let yourself think about it?"

He thought for a moment before shaking his head. "I couldn't really let myself think about being happy. My life was Kikyo's. I owed my life to her."

"So… Kagome makes you happy?"

"I - I said that?" Serena nodded. Inuyasha sighed again. "Yeah, she makes me happy. I can laugh and smile when she's around. It wasn't like that with Kikyo, even when she was… even fifty years ago."

She could sense that there was something he was not saying. "But?"

He looked at her with surprise, but answered her anyway. "But do I deserve to be happy, to laugh, to smile when Kikyo never got that second chance?"

"But she did get a second chance. That piece of soul that she had was a life force. It didn't make her feel hate, she choose that." Inuyasha looked at her in disbelief. "It's like the jewel shards. They can be dormant, corrupted or pure. It all depends on who holds them."

"Makes sense, I guess. Still…" he trailed off.

"Look, you deserve to be happy Inuyasha. Everyone deserves to be happy."

"Even if one person's happiness hurts another?"

Serena blinked back at him a couple of times. "I - I don't know. I never thought of that before." She frowned. "But who would be hurt by you being happy?"

"Kagome."

An intelligent "Huh?" escaped her to add to her confused look.

Inuyasha sighed. "To make me happy, I would want Kagome by my side forever. To stay with me no matter where I go or what I do. But I can't ask that of her. Despite any love she may feel for me, I think she would just prefer to be normal."

__

'Ah,' Serena thought. _'How many times have I wished that for myself? But…'_

"What is normal?" she spoke the end of her thought out loud. She saw the unspoken question on in Inuyasha's eyes as he turned to look at her. She looked right back into his eyes. "What do you think is normal?"

Inuyasha returned his gaze to the sky. "For her? Probably going to that school of hers and taking tests. Spending time with her friends and spending time with a," he swallowed hard "a normal human boy."

"That's not normal, not for Kagome anyway." He turned his face towards her. "The moment she was first pulled into that well, her normal changed. It is perfectly normal for her to be traipsing around Feudal Japan by your side."

"Yes, but you also said normal can be changed. She would be happier in her old way of life."

Serena sighed. "I used to have that kind of life, and I loved it. I loved being normal." She stared up at the sky, ignoring the twinkling stars and focusing on the moon instead. Inuyasha was also looking at the sky, but she could sense that she had his full attention. "When I first became Sailor Moon I whined and I cried about fate and destiny not being fair. I hated that my life was suddenly all about protecting people who didn't even know I existed. I had to push my friends away from my life because I couldn't let them know my secret. I was miserable even after Ami, Lita and Rei came into my life. I still wanted the old normal back. But it took coming here to realize that I like my normal. I couldn't go back to my old life even if I tried. I love fighting evil with my friends by my side. I can't go back to being who I was because one, I don't want to and two, the experiences I've had as Sailor Moon have forever changed me."

"What does this have to do with Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, annoyance clear in his voice.

Serena just chuckled. "I was getting to that. You see, Kagome and I are a lot alike. Sure, she was happy with her life before she fell through the well, but she's also happy - or mostly happy - with her life now. She can't go back to her old normal because she cannot forget about you, her friends or this era. It would be impossible for her to find life normal after all she as gone through." Inuyasha looked at her, skepticism evident on his face. "Her normal is being with you, by your side. You are her normal."

He seemed to contemplate this for a moment before saying barely loud enough for Serena to hear, "And she is my normal."

Serena smiled at this confession. "So, are you willing to be happy?"

Inuyasha did not reply for a long moment, but he finally said, "Yes, but not right away. I - I can't just forget about Kikyo completely so quickly. She was my normal long before I knew Kagome, and she will forever be in my heart."

Serena felt a twinge of pity for Kagome, but forced it away. "I don't think Kagome wants you to completely forget about Kikyo and I know that she is aware that Kikyo will forever be in your heart. Just don't remind her of it. Don't ever compare her to Kikyo in any way and if you're thinking about Kikyo, don't show it."

"What do ya mean 'don't show it'?"

"Kagome told me all about it. You eyes glaze over and get deep. She called it deep. I guess it means she can tell you're thinking deeply about Kikyo. And your ears... your ears don't move. You're ears always move, but when you're thinking of Kikyo, they don't."

"I never noticed that before," Inuyasha said, slightly embarrassed that he was so easily readable.

"Yeah," Serena giggled, "because you were too busy thinking about Kikyo to notice."

An amused grin quirked at his lips. "So I'm really that bad, huh? No wonder Kagome would sometimes seem a little... colder to me than normal." He sighed. "I'll try to keep that in mind. I don't want to hurt Kagome anymore."

Serena smiled warmly at him. "I'm glad. Then I have only one more piece of advise. Take it slow. Neither of you are ready to get into a relationship right now. Besides, if you suddenly wanted a relationship with Kagome right after… last night, you'd probably hurt her. She would think that she was merely a replacement, that you saw her as nothing but a replacement."

Inuyasha shook his head. "She is nobody's replacement. She is Kagome. If we ever became ma - er - got into a relationship I would want her to know it is because I want to be with her and only her." He swallowed his immense pride to say what he said next. "How would I make sure of that?"

Serena's eyes widened. Inuyasha was actually _asking_ for advice? "Uh, as I said, don't let it show when you're thinking about Kikyo around her." She wracked her brain for more to say. She was usually great at love advice, but this was a… unique case. "Um, don't call her names anymore, she really doesn't like it. Also, be nicer to her. I know you can be because she told me you have before. But when you are nice, don't act like it's an inconvenience to do so. What else? Oh! _Never_ call her a shard detector! She hates that more than anything!" She paused to consider for a moment. "Besides that, I don't think there is anything you can do. She likes you for who you are, so I wouldn't suggest changing too much about yourself. I think if you just give it time everything will be all right."

Inuyasha sat soaking in what she said. He wanted to argue some of the points, but decided against it. For once, he was not in the mood to argue. He was still thinking things over when Serena began to get uncomfortable, like she was about to say something that she did not want to say. "What?" he asked, not unkindly.

Serena looked shocked for a moment, but turned to him anyways, a pleading look in her eyes. "I - I need to know. Will you ever be able to forgive me?"

Inuyasha sighed and looked back up at the stars. "It was going to happen anyway."

"What?" Serena asked, looking at his profile.

"When I went to see her yesterday she told me that she - that her body was crumbling. That she wouldn't last much longer. She wanted me to go to hell with her right there. I - I refused. I told her that I had things I had to do first - mainly kill Naraku. I told her to hold on a little while longer, and then I could go with her. But she got angry and told me that I would regret my decision. I left, thinking nothing of it, but I guess I now know what she had in mind." He could see Serena from the corner of his eye, and she was still staring at him. He forced a small smile to his face for her sake. "So, you only sped up the inevitable. It's just - she didn't want to die alone again, and I didn't want her to either."

Despite the situation, Serena had to grin. His eyes were glazing over and his ears were stationary. She stood up, but Inuyasha seemed not to notice. "Inuyasha?" No response. She tweaked an ear and his head snapped towards her.

"What?" he growled out. She took a step back, but it was not from fear.

"Inuyasha, Kikyo was never technically alive, she was just surviving off of Kagome's soul. That part of her soul is returned to Kagome, so in a sense, Kikyo did not die alone. She is with Kagome just as she always has been." She turned to leave, but turned back a moment later to tweak his ear again. "She was right about your ears and eyes." With a smile she left the half demon deep in his thoughts.

Everyone was waiting for her when she got back to camp. Kagome stood up and moved towards her as soon as she appeared.

"How is he?" The worry was evident in her voice.

Serena smiled at her. "I think he'll be okay. Just give him some time." Kagome nodded. Serena was about to say that she was tired, when her own yawn did it for her. "I guess using the jewel took a lot out of me."

Darien was already laying down, halfway asleep. When he opened up his arms to her she gladly laid down next to him, cuddling into his warmth. She remembered two things before she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep One was the soft kiss placed upon her lips by Darien with a mumbled "Goodnight." The second was a soft voice floating over camp from above that said, "Get some sleep, Kagome. We're heading out again tomorrow."

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Morning came all too soon for the tired travelers, but they got up and left after a hurried breakfast anyway. Nothing was said beyond what was necessary as everyone's minds were turned toward the events of the last couple of days. Finally after two hours of traveling in silence, the tension was lifted.

Kagome was walking on her own, with only a sleeping Shippou cradled in her arms to keep her company. Inuyasha was walking out in front. She made a point to look at his ears every once in a while, and was slightly angry at the satisfaction se felt when she saw that they were forever moving. 

__

'He has every right to think about her!' she scolded herself. She shook her head to rid herself of her thoughts and instead focused in on Serena and Darien walking in front of her. She had to smile at how much of a difference the last few days had made in their relationship. When before they had walked with space between them, now they were pressed together. They walked with their arms around the other's waist, walking in step.

When she found herself wishing that she and Inuyasha could be like that, she once again shook her head, ridding herself of her traitorous thoughts. Instead she turned to see how Sango and Miroku were doing. She smiled at their clasped hands and turned forward once again, only to stop in her tracks with a gasp. She slowly turned around and looked back again at the now blushing Sango and Miroku. Her eyes trailed down to their hands, which were indeed clasped together.

"What?" Miroku asked innocently. Kagome continued staring at their hands.

"It's a way to keep him from groping me," Sango said, trying to be nonchalant but failing miserably. For the dark red blush on her cheeks gave her away.

Kagome just smiled a knowing smile and turned to start walking again. She was surprised to see smiles on Serena and Darien's faces, but even more surprised to see a small one on Inuyasha. With the tension finally broken they walked on in peace.

They walked on in an easy-going silence for an hour more, before Inuyasha suddenly stopped before them, his back rigid and his hand ready on Tetsusaiga.

"What is it?" Kagome called ahead.

"Sesshomaru," was the chilling answer.

They had stopped in the middle of an abandoned pasture, and sure enough at the other end appeared Sesshomaru.

Serena stared at Sesshomaru, who she had been told was Inuyasha's half brother, and a full demon. Sesshomaru wanted Tetsusaiga for himself and would kill Inuyasha for it if he had to. She studied him, trying to figure out how he could so easily wish to kill his own brother, and she found her answer. He was cold, through and through. His face was stone - emotionless - and even his eyes let nothing show forth. He held himself like one who knew he could do anything he wanted, and would do anything he wanted. Despite the rigidity of his body, he had an easy to see grace that flowed through him, and was proved by the way he almost floated when he walked. Serena found him to be beautiful - in a masculine way - and would probably have swooned over him in the past, before she knew that evil could hide behind beauty.

"What are you doing here, Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha asked, hate radiating in his voice.

"There was a surge of power near here the other day, and I came to see if it was Naraku," Sesshomaru replied in his emotionless voice. "But as long as you are here, I will take pleasure in taking Tetsusaiga from you."

A wind swept up, tossing Sesshomaru's hair about, making him look all that much more dramatic. Except, for some reason, it caused a giggle to escape Serena. All eyes turned to her, as the giggles turned into laughter.

"T - that's your brother?" Serena said to Inuyasha between deep breaths as she tried to control herself. But it did not work. A moment later she was laughing hysterically.

Everyone was staring at her, wondering if she had gone crazy. Darien was about to reach over and shake her shoulders to try to snap her out of it, when someone beat him to it.

Sesshomaru had moved so fast that no one had seen him do it, but they could clearly see him now, standing before Serena.

"No one laughs at this Sesshomaru," he said to her in a low voice, anger _almost_ coming through.

His hands were wrapped around her throat, but that was not what was worrying her friends. It was the fact that his hand was glowing green with his deadly poison, and his claws were puncturing her skin.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

Well, here's yet another chapter! I can't believe how many reviews I got for Chapter Twelve! Thank you all! :) It's much appreciated!

Hee hee, I'm so happy that no one guessed what's going to happen between Serena and Sesshomaru! I've had this idea in my head for a long time, so it was fun to write this chapter. When this idea popped into my head, I actually started laughing out loud. Good thing I was in my room and not out in public when that happened! :\ 

****

X5-452Star: Hmm, now that you mention it, he hasn't been very protective, has he? Well, sorry, it ain't going to happen in this chapter. I have something else up my sleeve! BUT… since you did mention it, I did add a *little* scene into Chapter Fifteen. (Just a little mention… but I promise, once they get into a fight, Darien will get quite protective, per normal. :) )

****

KhmerGirl: Because it's fun to be evil! :) I hate cliffhangers myself when I'm reading stories, but they're just SO fun to write!!

****

Henio: Yay! A vote for Serena kicking Sesshomaru's ass! LoL, it doesn't happen… exactly, but you'll see soon enough!

****

Lara1786: Glad I'm not boring you! ;)

****

kagome: Yes, yes I am trying to make you go insane. ;) J/K, of course. Sorry, but cliffys are a lot of fun to write! I'll try to not do it so often anymore though. :)

****

Jabba1: Isn't Rin always near Sesshomaru? I think it's so cute that he keeps her close by... but I digress! Thank you! I really enjoy your reviews! :)

****

Sakura-ayame33: Hey! I hope you're still alive! ;) Personally, I'd be too busy swooning over Sesshomaru to laugh, but that's just me! (Yeah, I think he's good looking, but I prefer Inuyasha by far! Hee hee) Anyways, I'm glad you like my story!!

****

Simply a Lady: I can't wait to see how your story finishes! Here's more! (BTW, I know what you mean. I've got so many story ideas floating around in my head that I'll be writing Inuyasha fan fiction until I'm 30! LoL!)

****

Chelsea c: I'm evil, that's how. :) Hee hee…

****

Prophetess of Hearts: You just about hit the nail on the head… you've got the closest guess so far!

Yeah, I don't really want to move my story, because the crossover section doesn't seem to get as many visitors, but it's up to the readers. And I gave up visiting it myself because of the inactivity of the stories. ::sigh:: We'll see, but it seems like most people are fine with where the story is now.

****

Leira1: My favorite animes are Sailor Moon and Inuyasha too. :) If this story moves though, it would be to the Sailor Moon Crossover section.

Oh my, I don't think I'd survive writing more than one ending! LoL, but don't worry, I'm not ignoring either couple when I write. Actually, now that Serena and Darien are together and their secrets are out, the story is kinda moving more towards Inuyasha and Kagome (and a bit of Miroku and Sango, but not much). (That'll please Inuyasha, don't you think? LoL!)

Hey, random anime characters talk to you too? Good, I'm not the only one! ;)

****

Lady Tristana Rogue: Thank you!

****

Artemis the hunter: Oh my! Thank you so much! ::blush::

****

Mage Raistlin: Neither! Hee hee, you'll see! ;) 

Oh gee… that sucks! I always go back and reread to make sure I didn't make too many mistakes. But of course, one or two always slip by. In my defense though, spellchecker wouldn't have been much help, because patients is a correctly spelled word. I just didn't happen to catch the mistake. Thank you though! :)

****

DragonPrincessDynamis: Updating! Updating! :)

Okay, well a few words before I start the chapter. 

I have great respect for Sesshomaru, so I almost hate to do this to him… *almost*. I've got to say, it was kinda fun to do! I almost didn't include Sesshomaru in the story at all, because I wasn't sure how to deal with the crescent moon on his forehead. And then this evil little idea popped into my head! What is it? Well… read on…

______________________

Shouts were frozen in throats and too late warnings sat upon lips, unspoken. Jaws hung open as Serena continued to stand, even under the onslaught of poison being pumped into her. Although she had stopped laughing, their was still laughter in her eyes as she stared into Sesshomaru's eyes.

Sesshomaru's eyes on the other hand held a barely contained shocked confusion. No human had ever before withstood his poison claws.

Everyone watched in paralyzed amazement as Serena smiled. Sesshomaru was giving her enough poison to kill ten demons and yet she was smiling? They all watched as one of her arms slowly raised, and she pressed the tip of a finger to Sesshomaru's head - to his blue crescent moon, actually. At that simple pressure, his hand lost its grip, and his arm fell to his side. Sesshomaru and Serena now had their eyes locked to one another's, but both of their eyes were blank, as if they were in a trance.

"What is going on here?!" Darien exclaimed, not liking what he was seeing. He had wanted to run to her aid as soon as she was 'attacked' by Sesshomaru, but he knew that she did not need his help. Normally when she was in trouble, he felt a pull at his heart that told him so. Yet, he had not felt that pull for even a moment. It was as if Serena knew that she had control over Sesshomaru, and knew that he could not hurt her. But how? And why?

No one had the answers, and everyone was too surprised and confused to even hazard a guess. They all settled with standing aside and carefully watching for any movements from Sesshomaru. 

Inuyasha's hand rested on Tetsusaiga. Miroku's staff, always at hand, was poised and he was ready to call forth a barrier for Serena if needed. (And that was the only reason he was standing so close to her, really.) Sango's arm was tensed, ready to grab her boomerang. (And if Miroku dared to touch Serena it would come in handy.) Kagome had an arrow notched to her bow, ready to hit Sesshomaru with a purifying arrow if absolutely necessary. Shippou hid behind Kagome, because he was not going to mess with the demon lord. Kirara sat by Sango, in her small form, but ready to transform to protect her friends if it came to that. Darien twirled a rose in his fingers, more than ready to lodge the deadly stem between the dog demon's eyes. Pull-at-the-heart be damned! He would not let the demon near her again.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Serena was once again in another's mind, yet it was very different this time. Violent images flooded by her as blood splattered and shrill screams of the dying were heard. She even felt emotion - joy. Sesshomaru enjoyed killing, maiming, spilling blood.

"If you don't like it, leave."

She turned to see Sesshomaru behind her, looking none too pleased that his mind was being invaded.

"Nah, I've seen plenty of blood spilled before. I've even split some. Just can't say I liked it wall that much."

He raised an eyebrow. "You have killed? Peculiar. How is it that my lousy brother," he spit out the word brother, like it lay vile on his tongue "ends up traveling with all the strange women?"

"Just lucky, I guess," Serena said with a cheeky smile.

"Enough of this! Why are you here?"

"To inform you of your destiny."

"I choose my own destiny!" He roared, angry that such a slip of a girl would dare try to tell him what to do.

"Oh, but you don't have a choice, and you know it. Those stories that were told to you as a child were true, Sesshomaru. They weren't scary stories told to amuse."

A look that can only be described as horror crossed his face before his cold mask settled back down.

"Lies! You know nothing! Demons are better than humans in all ways and I will never believe differently."

"You uselessly defend yourself, Sesshomaru, because you know it's true. You can feel that it's true. And, on another topic, you're not as heartless as you seem."

Sesshomaru crossed his arms. "You know nothing, little girl."

Serena had to hold back a giggle, but Sesshomaru say the amusement on her face.

"What?"

"You remind me of Inuyasha when you do that - but hey!, I thought you were missing your left arm."

Sesshomaru scoffed, again in an Inuyasha-like way. "This is my mind. If I want two arms, I can have two arms."

"Why do you want two arms?" It was a stupid question to ask, but she felt compelled to do so. 

Sesshomaru did not deign to answer, but he had no reason to. The images that flashed by were reasons enough. It was a small group of images though that caught Serena's attention, and she suddenly understood. She filed the information away for later. And then an idea came to her.

"Why do you hate Inuyasha so much?"

"Because he is naught but a dirty half demon, and he is unworthy of my Father's blood."

The images that flew by belied his statement though. She understood Sesshomaru's hatred of humans now, and felt a sort of pity for him.

Serena stood up tall, regally almost, and looked at him straight in the eye.

"You understand that I cannot allow you to hurt Inuyasha or his friends." It was not a question, it was a statement.

Sesshomaru said nothing, just glared.

"Good. And when the final battle against Naraku, you will aid Inuyasha and his friends."  


"I was planning to fight Naraku anyway."

"Ah yes," Serena nodded. "You will never forgive him for kidnapping Rin, will you?"

"Never," Sesshomaru agreed, seething with anger.

"Rin means a lot to you."

No answer, but again the images gave him away.

"You may retain your lands, Lord Sesshomaru." He gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Sesshomaru's mind began to fade from her sight and she knew her time was up. Before she was completely gone though, she left him with a parting thought.

"There is nothing weak about showing emotions. In fact, the strongest people in the world are those who show their love to others." And with that, she was gone.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Back in reality, her friends were looking on worriedly. At some point earlier on into Serena and Sesshomaru's trance, Rin had skipped into the clearing, Jaken running close behind her. Of course, Jaken had been whining on and on asking what they had done to Sesshomaru, but he had quickly been silenced by a shard rap to the head from Miroku's staff. Rin on the other hand went right to Kagome, who put down her bow and arrow and picked her up, holding her as they both watched the unmoving pair.

Finally Serena seemed to be coming out of her trance. The first thing she did was touch her left hand to the crystal in her brooch and bring he right hand up to where Sesshomaru's left arm used to be. The crystal began to glow and before their eyes, the demon lord grew a new arm. This was much to Inuyasha's displeasure. Moments later Sesshomaru came out of his trance.

At first he made a move as if to attack Serena, but he abruptly stopped a second later. He stared at Serena for a long moment before suddenly seeming to realize that he had a left arm. He raised the arm and scrutinized it with wonder in his eyes. He looked at Serena, his question obvious in his eyes.

"A gift," she said with a smile. He nodded. Then he turned and walked towards Kagome and Rin. He ignored Inuyasha's warning growl, and merely held out his arms. Kagome handed Rin over to the waiting arms, shock clear on her face.

Sesshomaru began to walk away. "Come, Jaken." The little lizard demon scrambled after him.

Serena was about to explain everything to her waiting friends when a final thought trailed from Sesshomaru's head to hers. She whipped around to face the retreating form of Sesshomaru.

"No!" Her voice was commanding, and everyone turned to look at her, including Sesshomaru. "No, Sesshomaru, you are wrong. Inuyasha is not under my command, I am under his. I know that you understand what that means." Sesshomaru did not look completely convinced, so Serena rubbed salt into the wound with a regretful sigh. "Do you see a mark on his forehead?" She pointed back to Inuyasha's obviously clear forehead. "No. That means that he is free. He serves under no one. That means, that he is superior to you." She hated to do it, but Sesshomaru's arrogant pride had to be broken.

Sesshomaru stared at her for a long moment before hesitantly nodding. He then turned around and quickly left, Jaken following behind.

When Serena turned back to her friends they were all gaping openly at her.

She sighed. "Story time… again." With that she sat down, and everyone else did the same.

"Back on the moon we had two breeds of - allies - I guess you could say. There were the Lunar Cats, of which Luna is, and the Moon Dogs. Sesshomaru is descended from a Moon Dog. 

"Both Lunar Cats and Moon Dogs have humanoid forms, as you can see from Sesshomaru, and they spent most of their time in that form when not on duty. The Lunar Cats were royal advisors while the Moon Dogs were the guards of the Moon Castle.

"The reason why Moon Dogs - dog demons - are on Earth is because after Beryl took Endymion's guards, I ordered some of the guards to go and protect Endymion's home. I guess his palace was where Japan is today, so that's why dog demons are in Japan. I guess that once the old kingdoms of Earth fell to ruin, that the Moon Dogs cast aside their roles as guards and took lordship over the lands of Japan. Yet, I still have the ability to control them, and am impervious to their powers."

"So, you can control me?" Inuyasha asked, not liking the thought at all.

Serena rolled her eyes. "Didn't you hear what I said to Sesshomaru?! You don't' have the mark of the Moon Kingdom, therefore I have no power over you. You are free…"

"And therefore superior to Sesshomaru," Kagome finished for her, and Inuyasha looked very happy about that. "But what does it mean that you are under Inuyasha's command?"

Serena winced in sympathy for Sesshomaru. "Ah… oh man, Inuyasha is going to get a _big_ head for this one."

"It can't get much bigger. Go on," Kagome encouraged.

"Hey!" Inuyasha huffed. Kagome just smiled sweetly at him.

"I am the Princess of the Moon and technically Sesshomaru is under my command. Since I put myself under Inuyasha's command…"

"I can order Sesshomaru around!" Inuyasha interrupted, leaping up in his excitement.

"But only through me," Serena said. Then her eyes turned hard and a warning entered her voice. "But I wouldn't suggest trying that." Inuyasha gulped and sat down. A smile sprung to Serena's face and she beamed at him. "Good!"

"So, what was Sesshomaru's mind like?" Sango asked.

Serena grimaced. "Bloody. Full of screams. He loves to kill." Serena shuddered.

"So than why did ya give him back his arm?!" Inuyasha said, anger biting at the words.

Serena closed her eyes. "Because he's not all bad. His greatest fear was that one day he would not be able to protect Rin because of his missing arm. He cares for Rin, and even he is not sure why. He does not have the same burning hatred for humans that he used to, all because of Rin. She is more important to him than anyone or anything else in this world." When she reopened her eyes, she was surprised to see that Inuyasha's ears were drooping and a sad frown on his face. Even as she watched, Kagome noticed too and took his hand into her own. He grasped it back thankfully.

"Did you happen to catch a glimpse of why Sesshomaru hates humans so much?" Miroku asked out of curiosity.

Serena nodded with a frown. "When he was a child he was different, very different. He smiled and laughed and played, just like Shippou does." Shippou smiled at her from Kagome's lap. "When his mother left him - I didn't catch if it was abandonment or death - was when his heart first began to chill, to harden. But it wasn't much and it had nothing to do with humans at the time. In fact, he liked his father's new mate, he thought she was beautiful. He was eager for his brother's birth." Inuyasha's head shot up in disbelief.

Serena closed her eyes, remembering the images. "Right after you were born, Inuyasha, your mother put you in Sesshomaru's arms. He was happy to finally have someone to play with and to boss around - in a brotherly way. But that would be one of the few times he ever held you, because your father died the next day. He was given a choice to go with you and your mother to her childhood home, or to stay with your father's family. He choose to go with you and your mother." Surprise registered on Inuyasha's face. "Yes, he loved you that much. But once at your mother's home, everything went wrong. You were given over to some maids while your mother rested from the strenuous journey. Sesshomaru - he tried to see you so that he could hold you again, but the maids wouldn't let him. They called him an evil demon, unworthy of contact with humans. They even kept their contact to you to a bare minimum, but tolerated you because of your human blood. That angered Sesshomaru to no end. He stayed for a few weeks, but after that couldn't take it any more. He was sick of humans telling him that he wasn't good enough. So he left to go back to the Western Lands. He was young, very young, but he made the journey alone. When he left your mother's home, his heart was already hardening to humans, and by the time he got to your father's home, it was frozen over. I didn't get a good look at what had happened, but I think that a lot of humans tried to kill him. Because he was a demon. It didn't matter that he was young and couldn't really hurt them, they still wanted to kill him. He decided along the journey that he would never again let a human tell him he wasn't good enough, and that he would give them reason to think he was evil. Somewhere along the way the feelings of love and care for Inuyasha got deeply buried - because he too had human blood. And thus the Sesshomaru that you all know and loathe."

Nobody said anything for a long while. It was Inuyasha though who finally broke the silence.

"Damn it!" A hand slammed to the ground. "I actually feel sorry for him." He was angry at himself for letting himself feel anything but hate towards his brother. It did not matter if Sesshomaru had once cared for him, because the brother he knew was only out for his blood.

"I feel bad for him too," Kagome said, squeezing the hand that she held and running her thumb over the back of his hand in a soothing fashion.

"I think that we may see a new Sesshomaru when we see him next," Serena said. "He already has orders from me not to hurt any of you, so you don't have to worry about that anymore. Besides that though, I made him remember hidden memories, so that may change him."

"Hmm," Sango said, obviously mulling over something.

"What is it, Sango?" Miroku asked. Kagome took note of the discarding of the formal title of 'Lady' with a smile.

"Well, did you notice how he held Rin in his arms? He's never done that before. He could have, even with only one arm. I think he's already changed."

Kagome shrugged. Then, remembering why they were traveling in the first place, she stood up, reluctantly letting go of Inuyasha's hand. "Guess we'll find out next time we see him. Now let's get going. Kagura is probably long gone, but maybe we can get a lead where to find her." With that she started down the path, and everyone scrambled to get up and catch up with her. Inuyasha went right to her side. She looked up at him when she noticed him there, and he smiled at her. She looked a little surprised but smiled back before looking back to the road ahead.

Inuyasha looked behind him to Serena who smiled and nodded. It was a good start.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

Guess what? My semester is almost over with! Yay! I've just got two final exams to take next week and it's all over with. :) But, that's kind of bad news for you guys, because I'll be going home. And when I'm home I tend not to write or post anything. But I'll make an effort to get something up for you! Regardless of what I get written, Chapter Fifteen _will_ be posted next week! :)

Errr.. slight warning… the next several chapters have almost no action. :\ I'm just now getting to the point with Chapter Seventeen where something actually is going to happen. That's not to say that these chapters aren't important, because they have reveal some plot points. :) Anyways… read on!

****

Mage Raistlin: Thank you! I'm keeping up… hee hee ;)

****

Simply a Lady: And there won't be any more mean cliffies for a while. But that's not to say that they won't make a comeback! :)

****

KhmerGirl: Hope this was soon enough! (Well, it probably wasn't, my apologizes, but I had the whole Thanksgiving break to get through! :) ).

****

X5-452Star: Hee hee... I absolutely loved making Sesshomaru inferior like that! He needs to get knocked off his high horse sometimes! The only thing I didn't like was the name Moon Dogs, but I couldn't come up with anything better. Glad you liked it! And I'll try to work in more Darien protectiveness! ;)

****

Henio: Thankies!

****

Jabba1: Thanks. That's personally one of my favorite twists in this story. But of course... there are others! (One's coming up in this chapter, actually).

****

Sakura-ayame33: Oooh! I hope you're not grounded! Oh, btw, I'm a Michigander myself! :) I completely sympathize with the MI schools complaint!

****

slvrstarlight: Hee hee, glad I wasn't the only one. I'm still waiting for them to explain what that's all about. I mean, why does he just have a random moon on his forehead? LoL, there has to be a reason behind that!

****

CaraBera: Hmm, yeah I get what you mean. Inuyasha is really a softie when it comes to Kagome in the series, but at the same time they still have their squabbles. They just happen to squabble a few times in the beginning of my story. Don't worry, they stop fighting so much after Chapter Four. :) As for when the story takes place, I really can't decide. I'm just leaving that up to the readers to decide, I guess. Well, hope you enjoy the rest of the chapters!

Well… enjoy the chapter!! (Yes, I take some liberates with the story of the creation of the Shikon Jewel. Sorry, but I had to make it work with my plot.)

______________________

The rest of the day was uneventful, although they had kicked up the pace a notch. They ate a quick supper and went right to sleep with an agreement to go at top speed in the morning until Inuyasha was able to catch Kagura's scent.

"All right Darien," Inuyasha said the next morning, "you said you could get you and Serena anywhere fast."

"No problem," Darien said. With a flutter of rose petals he was Tuxedo Mask, and a second later he was holding Serena in his arms, bridal style. "Lead the way!"

Kirara transformed into her larger form and Sango and Miroku climbed onto her back. Sango tensed up at first when Miroku wrapped his arms around her stomach, but soon settled against his chest. She even took the staff from his hand and held it across her lap, so that he could hold her tighter. Shippou perched on Miroku's shoulder and settled down to go back to sleep.

Kagome smiled at the two couples, for Serena and Darien too were enjoying the closeness to each other. Serena's arms were clasped around Darien's neck and they were sharing a quick kiss. Although there was a smile on her face, Kagome could not help but to feel a pang of jealousy.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha said, trying to get her attention. When she turned back around Inuyasha was crouching down waiting for her to climb on.

"Sorry," she said, climbing onto his back.

"Everybody ready?" he called back. Once he saw the nods he took off. He was interested to see if Darien could keep up.

Serena shut her eyes against the wind rushing by. She clung tightly to Darien, though she felt not fear. She trusted Darien with her life, and knew she was in no danger.

Darien was concentrating on keeping up with the two demons. One was flying along while the other was gliding along easily. He, on the other hand, was running full out. 

Serena noticed that Darien was putting effort into his running. Every other time he had carried her it had been effortlessly. Then again it had been for short distances and across rooftops. Maybe that was it…

"Darien?"

"Hmm?"

"Try the trees."

He looked down at her for a moment, confused. Then he broke out in a grin once he realized what she was saying. A moment later they were soaring through the treetops just above Inuyasha. By using the tree limbs to push off Darien was able to glide through the air much easier, just like when he glided along rooftops back in Tokyo.

They traveled like that for almost an hour, and Darien started to get tired. He was thankful when Inuyasha came to a stop in a clearing that had obviously seen a battle. He set Serena down and let go of his transformation. As he tried to catch his breath he surveyed the scene.

Dozens of mangled skeletons were strewn across the field, yet the fight had been recent for there were smatterings of blood here and there.

Inuyasha sniffed around. "Kagura was definitely here," he said with confidence. "And… Kouga. This is Kouga's blood."

Kagome gasped, concern gleaming in her eyes. "Where is he?" she looked up at Inuyasha pleadingly.

For once he did not have any nasty comments about the wolf demon. Instead he used his nose to find the freshest scent of his rival. He found him almost buried beneath a pile of bones. Clearing away the bones he found the demon to be scratched, cut, bruised and unconscious, but very much alive.

"Over here!" he called out, and Kagome came running. The rest of his friends followed closely behind.

"Oh!" Kagome exclaimed when she saw Kouga's condition. She fell to her knees beside her friend and examined him more closely. "I think he's healing up fine. Who knows how long he's been here though."

"Does he still have his shards?" Sango asked.

Kagome furrowed her eyebrows in concentration and nodded. "I don't understand why though. He got beaten so badly, so why didn't Kagura take his shards?"

Everyone pondered over this, but Inuyasha shrugged. "Let's just be glad the stupid wolf didn't let his shards fall into Naraku's hands."

"I heard that... dogturd," said Kouga in a weak voice.

"Kouga!" Kagome said, happy her friend was okay.

"Kagome," Kouga said, smiling up at the girl. "I'm glad you're here."

Kagome took a battered hand into hers and gently squeezed. "Rest Kouga. You can tell us what happened later, okay?"

Kouga nodded before passing out again.

Kagome looked up at Inuyasha. "Could you move him? He shouldn't have to lay among all of this."

Inuyasha did not look too happy, but he picked Kouga up and threw him none too gently onto his shoulder. "Where to?"

She glared at him for the mistreatment of Kouga, but just motioned him to follow her.

Sango and Serena had already found a place to eat lunch away from the battlefield, so Kagome led Inuyasha there. Darien and Miroku were still looking for any more survivors. They soon joined them.

"I guess it was just Kouga here," Miroku said with a shrug.

"A lot of carnage for one guy," Darien observed.

"Yeah, but Kouga is pretty strong," Kagome said. Inuyasha did not seem too pleased to hear her say that, but Kagome did not notice because she was already working on bandaging Kouga's wounds.

By the time she was done, lunch was ready and she gladly ate her portion. It was while she was helping to clean up that Kouga finally came around again.

"Where the hell am I?" he said for his first words. Kagome was at his side in a moment.

"How are you feeling?" she asked him, concerned.

His eyes lit up seeing Kagome there. "All right, I guess. Did you do this?" he asked, holding up a bandaged arm. Kagome nodded, and before she knew it Kouga had kissed her cheek. The growling started a moment later.

"Listen you stupid wolf! Just because you're hurt doesn't mean I still won't kill you! So if you value your life, I'd suggest keeping away from Kagome!" yelled a seething Inuyasha.

"Sit," Kagome said calmly. After she had heard the satisfying WHAM!, she asked Kouga, "Do you feel up to telling us what happened?"

Kouga nodded. After situating himself into a more comfortable position, he began.

"I got here not long after I left you, probably not even half a day later. Kagura was waiting here. 'I knew either you or Inuyasha's group would show up here. So predictable!' she said. Right after that she attacked. She used her Corpse Dance, as you can see," he said, gesturing to the field of skeletons. "I held my own for a long time, of course, but she began to wear me down eventually. I was beginning to think that Kagura would actually get the best of me when she stopped attacking suddenly. Just went all ridged and said 'What the hell was that?'. She flew away right after saying that. Then I guess passed out." He paused for a moment and then looked at Kagome almost sheepishly. "How long was I out?"

"Almost three days, I guess."

Kouga looked surprised, but shook his head. "Well, do you have any idea of why Kagura ran off like that?"

"Uh, actually, I think I do," Kagome said. "Serena, kind of…" she turned to gesture to Serena, but she was not in sight. "Where's Serena?"

Everyone looked around, slightly embarrassed to not have noticed her wandering off.

Inuyasha noted the panicked look on Darien's face as he searched for Serena with his eyes and gave in with a sigh. "I'll find her." Darien looked at him thankfully, but he turned to Kouga. "Keep you hands off Kagome while I'm gone!" Without even waiting for a response he leapt off into the direction that Serena's scent went.

He did not have to go far. He found her in a field not far from where the rest of their friends were. She was kneeling in the grass in a praying position, crystal held between her hands. Her eyes were closed and she seemed oblivious to all around her. After sniffing the air to make sure no demons were lurking around, he went back to the group.

"Did you find her?" he was greeted with immediately by a worried Darien.

"Yeah, she's in the next field over. Looks like she's meditating with that jewel of hers," Inuyasha said, pointing in the direction where Serena was. Darien ran that way with a "Thanks!" thrown over his shoulder.

"So that new wench is the one that caused that surge of power?" Kouga was asking. Kagome nodded. "I knew that woman had power hidden in her!" Kouga then took up Kagome's hands and stared intently into her eyes, genuine worry clouding his features. "Kagome, with that Serena woman holding that power Naraku will be after you more than ever. You'll be in danger. Please, come with me. Let me protect you."

Kagome knew he was being earnest, but there was no hesitation in her answer. "I belong here Kouga, with my friends. We'll be fine - _I'll_ be fine. You can come with us though," she offered.

Kouga ignored the offer and instead let go of Kagome's hands and turned on Inuyasha.

"And are _you_ going to protect her? If it was a choice between saving Kagome or the dead bitch, who would you save? Huh?" Angry silence. "Answer me!"

Inuyasha just stood there, angrier than Kagome had ever seen him. Red was flashing in his eyes despite Tetsusaiga resting at his hip.

"Kouga," Kagome said softly, but the wolf demon did not look at her. "Kouga, Kikyo is gone. It happened the night Serena gained her power. Your question is an unnecessary one."

Kouga relaxed, shame flickering across his features, but he forced it back and tensed up again. Inuyasha was beyond placating, so angry was he. Kouga stood by, waiting to see what the half demon would do. He had his answer a moment later in the form of claws piercing his neck that was in the grip of Inuyasha's hand.

"Never accuse me of not protecting Kagome," Inuyasha growled out, his golden eyes flashing in his anger. "Never! I would protect her with my life if I had to. You got that?"

Kouga nodded against the force at his throat. It tightened a fraction before finally letting go. Kouga held a hand to his throbbing throat.

Kagome just stared as this went on. She was shocked. Inuyasha was angry because he thought Kouga was accusing him of not protecting her? She had thought it was because of the mention of Kikyo. She shook her head and was about to ask Inuyasha to release Kouga when he did it on his own. He glanced at her face for a moment before leaping up into a tree and hiding himself. She could not blame him. Even she was not sure of what to say after that outburst. She busied herself by preparing some lunch for Kouga, trying to keep her mind off of anything that had to do with a certain half demon. Serena provided the welcome distraction a few minutes later.

When Darien walked back into camp Serena was with him. Although they walked together, Darien seemed to be supporting her along the way. Kagome could see why, for Serena was as pale as the clouds that rolled by above.

"Serena! What's the matter?" Kagome said, jumping up to greet her friend.

"The damn crystal just saps me sometimes," she replied weakly.

Kagome cocked an eyebrow. "You've been around us too long," she said, referring to the swear word. Serena flushed red in embarrassment. "Don't worry. It happens to us all. Now come here and tell me what happened." Kagome sat down by the fire and patted the ground next to her.

"Uh, I do need to talk to you, but not here. Can we go somewhere else?" Serena asked, some of her normal color appearing under the still visible blush.

Kagome nodded and stood up. The two girls walked out of the camp and went back to the clearing Serena had meditated in. Once they had both sat down, Kagome turned to Serena and asked, "So what's going on?"

Serena was silent for a moment as she collected her thoughts. With a sigh she started. "The crystal called me while we were eating lunch. I got up and left - no one noticed, not even Darien. I can be sneaky sometimes," she said with a grin that Kagome returned. "Anyways, I came here and started mediating. Right away the crystal began to… uh, well it was like it was telling me a story. It told me how it was created and why. And why I can control it.

"The silver crystal came into being long before the Silver Millennium. It was born outside our galaxy, on another planet that was much like Earth. On this planet a war was being waged. Good against evil. There were many warriors on each side, but the side of good had the strongest of them all. She was a fierce warrior, but pure of heart. She was fair and merciful. And all those on the side of evil wanted her dead.

"It was years into the fight when the strongest of the evil got together to kill Aliana. The side of good was winning at that time, but the tide would be turned with the death of Aliana. The leaders knew that in order to kill Aliana they would have to attack her all at once. And so they did.

"The battle waged for a day and a night, neither side faltering, although Aliana did kill off many of those on the evil side. No one could touch her though. She was an ultimate fighter and had lasted the whole fight without a scratch. Yet the constant fighting wore even her down. So, at dawn on the second day Aliana pulled the souls of the evil beings into her own and expelled it from her body, basically killing herself. The result was the silver crystal, and inside Aliana's soul continued to fight the evil within the crystal.

"The side of good took the crystal and kept it safe from evil hands. Centuries passed and finally good won and evil was subdued. Yet the war still waged inside the crystal, and it longed to be set free. It - the crystal - made a journey to our galaxy. Don't asked me how, it did not deem it worthy enough to tell me about. Anyway, it ended up on the moon where it knew it was supposed to be. The princess of the moon found it and had it put into a necklace. She wore it for years as a decoration, but always wore it nonetheless. Until one day her fiancé was attacked by rebels from Mars - this was before the alliance between the planets. He would have died if it weren't for the crystal. She used the crystal's power to defeat the rebels and saved her husband-to-be. The fight was won inside the crystal that day and Aliana was finally put to rest. The silver crystal became the heirloom and the power behind the Moon Kingdom that day, and was passed on from mother to daughter since then."

Kagome had listened intently throughout the story, and had to hold back a gasp when Serena told her about the origin of her crystal. Kagome knew that Serena did not know about how the Shikon Jewel had come to be. Could it be just a coincidence?

Serena looked at Kagome and guessed what she was thinking. "The crystal told me one other thing, Kagome. Another jewel of power has been born and its master found. It's just waiting for her to put it back together."

Kagome gaped at Serena, not sure of what to say or what to ask.

"You okay Kagome?"

"Uh, uh, yeah, but who? I don't understand."

Serena was surprised that she actually understood what the stuttering girl was asking.

"I recall being told that you were born with the Shikon Jewel in your body, correct?" Kagome nodded. "And so there is the who. The why is because you have a pure soul."

"But, but Naraku was able to corrupt the shards so easily. Why?"

"When my crystal still had Aliana's soul in it, it had the ability to be controlled by anyone because the evil was there too. The Shikon Jewel has Midoriko and evil demons in it; hence the jewel can be pure or corrupt. Once it is purified Midoriko will win her fight and be able to pass on, and the jewel will be yours alone. Until you pass it on, of course."

Kagome looked truly shocked. Serena could tell she would need some time to process everything.

"I'm going back to camp, Kagome. I'll leave you here to think things over." All Kagome did was nod, so Serena left her to her thoughts.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

Disclaimers: I do not own the music by nor know the musicians: Enrique Iglesias, Avril Lavigne, Lifehouse, and The Goo Goo Dolls. Lyrics used are from the "escape", "Let Go", "No Name Face" and "dizzy up the girl" CDs respectively.

Now, before you run screaming from this chapter, no, this is not a song fic chapter. This is a lighthearted chapter where Serena and Kagome have some fun. I thought that this would be a good place to leave you guys just in case I can't post anything until January. Better this than leaving you off in the middle of action! :)

Of course, having all these lyrics in here means that this chapter isn't as long as it seems. Sorry! ;)

****

X5-452Star: Ah, yes, patience. I don't have much of it myself, so good luck! :) Yeah, the beginning of the chapter was rushed… I was just running out of ideas to fill in the time. Besides, I want to finish this fic before I graduate! (And that isn't for another 2 years.) ;)

****

Jabba1: Thank you for understanding! And yeah, I know what you mean about the project thing. I myself leave *everything* til the last minute. Even 8 page papers… hee hee. But that's over and done with and out of my mind!

****

Henio: Thanks, I'll try. But chances are, you won't be seeing another chapter until mid-January. But I promise to try really hard!

****

Simply a Lady: And no evil cliffy here either! I know what you mean. The possessed/obsession thing is why I _didn't_ bring any of my computer games to my dorm with me. I would end up skipping all my classes to play them! ;)

****

KhmerGirl: Was it short? Yeah, I guess it was… sorry! This one isn't any better (as mentioned above). But I'm trying my hardest to make them longer! ;)

****

Sakura-ayame33: Yeah, it is cold! I hate winter… except for snow at Christmas time, can't get any better than that! I've never heard of Waterford… what major city is it by? I myself split my time between Grand Rapids (home) and Kalamazoo (school).

All right! Two more things... One: Yes, I do know what "Hanging By A Moment" is really about. But the way I figure it, is that Kagome is from the Shinto religion and therefore would just choose to take it as a love song. (As my atheist friends do. No, I myself am not an atheist). Two: Some of the lyrics were shortened for feasibility purposes.

Enjoy! And if I don't post before January, than have a Happy Holiday! (Whatever it is that you celebrate) and a Happy New Year!

_____________________

The sky was beginning to change into colors of pink and purple, and Kagome was still sitting in the field, thinking. It was hard for her to grasp that she had the power to yield something as powerful as Serena's crystal. And that she was chosen to do so. She wondered why she was chosen. Why her and not Kikyo? Did they not have the same soul? Did this mean that, in the end, it would be up to her to stop Naraku? Could she do it? How? How could she get the jewel to work like the silver crystal? She had so many questions, and yet no clear answers.

"KAGOME!!" a voice yelled in her ear, startling her into a quivering mass of nerves. She turned to the culprit. Of course, it was none other than Inuyasha.

"What was that for?!"

He sat back with a huff. "I've been calling your name for a while now, but you were off in la la land."

"Oh, sorry," Kagome said with an embarrassed blush.

Inuyasha tilted his head at her curiously, and looked very much like a curious puppy to Kagome. She had to hold back a giggle.

"What did you and Serena talk about?"

"She didn't tell you guys?"

He shook his head. "No, she said it was up to you to say."

Kagome thought about that, and decided to keep it to herself for now. "Nothing really."

Inuyasha gave her a look that clearly said he did not believe her.

She sighed. "All right, we did talk, but I… I really can't say right now. I still have to think it through." She could see the hurt he was trying to hide in his eyes, so she reached out and placed a hand on his knee while looking into his eyes. "As soon as I figure things out, I'll let you know, okay? You'll be the first I tell, outside of Serena, cause there's still some things I need to ask her. Okay?"

The hurt seeped out of his eyes and his normal indignant look came back. "Keh!"

Kagome grinned and patted his knee. "Good!" Then she got up and stretched. "Ugg! I was sitting there for way too long! Come on, let's get back to camp." She started back and heard Inuyasha following behind her.

When she got back, everyone was staring at Serena and Darien.

"Pizza!" Serena said.

"Coffee," Darien said with a wistful voice.

"Ice cream."

"Books."

"Soda."

"School."

"You're weird. Milkshakes."

"Isn't that basically ice cream? Coffee."

"Two completely different things. You already said coffee. My Mom's cooking."

"But I love coffee! Uh, newspapers."

"Ug, you're boring!" Serena said with a grin. "TV. Oh! Kagome, you're back!"

Kagome smiled from her spot between Inuyasha and Sango in the circle of friends around the fire. "Yeah. What are you guys talking about?"

"All the things we miss from our time," Darien answered with a smile.

"Yeah, and they're making no sense!" Kouga complained from his seat between Miroku and Shippou. "Piza? Bocks? What the hell are those?!"

"We told you, Kouga, it's best not to ask. Kagome has a lot of things in her time that we would never even dream about," Sango said, trying her best to be patient with the wolf demon. She received a "Humph" in return.

"So, Kagome, what do you miss from home when you're here?" Serena asked curiously.

Kagome shrugged her shoulders. "Not much, besides my family and friends. I used to miss a lot of things, but not any more. What I have here more than makes up for what I can't bring with me," she said with a grin. "So, besides friends and family, what are you missing the most right now?"

Serena pondered on that for a moment. "Hmm… well… believe it or not, NOT food!" This caused a very fake dramatic gasp from Darien. He got an elbow in the side for his efforts. "What I miss right now is music. I always listen to music at night, so I _really_ miss it right now."

Kagome nodded. "Yeah, I miss music sometimes too. But I always have a tune rolling around in my head." She saw Inuyasha open his mouth to say something, and by the glint in his eye it was not going to be nice. "Not a word!" His mouth snapped shut. She looked back to Serena. "So, what's you're favorite song?"

"Oh, I don't have one favorite song. I have categories. Like my favorite love song, my favorite slow song, hip hop song, country song, favorite song that relates to my life…"

"What song relates to you?" Kagome asked curiously.

"_Hero_ by Enrique Iglesias," she said with a cheeky grin. "I know it doesn't _really_ have much to do with my life, but it's a good tune, and Enrique is hot!"

"That he is!" Kagome agreed wholeheartedly, causing a growl to erupt from Kouga. It was short lived though - the staff to his head cured him of that.

"Could you sing it Serena?" Shippou asked with a pleading look in his eyes. "Please?" And now a full blown pleading pout.

Serena laughed. "All right. Those with sensitive ears beware, my voice is said to be not all that wonderful!" She grinned at Inuyasha, who looked a little worried. With a deep breath, she began.

__

"Would you dance if I asked you to dance?

Or would you run and never look back?

Would you cry if you saw me crying?

And would you save my soul tonight?

Would you tremble if I touched your lips?

Or would you laugh? Oh please tell me this

Now would you die for the one you love?

Oh hold me in your arms tonight

I can be your hero baby

I can kiss away the pain

I will stand by you forever

You can take my breath away

Would you swear that you'll always be mine?

Or would you lie? Would you run and hide?

Am I in too deep? Have I lost my mind?

I don't care. You're here tonight

I can be your hero baby

I can kiss away the pain

I will stand by you forever

You can take my breath away."

She ended off the song, trailing off the last word. Before anyone could say anything, Darien was kissing Serena. They all tried to not stare at the couple, but it was hard not to. Finally, at least a full two minutes later they broke apart.

"Uh, not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?" Serena asked.

"I was just taking your breath away," Darien said with a impish grin.

"Oh," Serena answered back, blushing brightly.

"But, you know, I would prefer to be _your_ hero," Darien said. They could not tell if he was joking or being serious.

"You already are," Serena said, blushing up at him. He pecked her lips with a kiss and pulled her closer to him.

Shippou decided to take it upon himself to break the now awkward silence.

"Kagome, do _you_ have a song from your time that is like your life?"

Kagome nodded. "Actually, I do." Everyone turned to look at her, and she could not hold back a small blush.

"Sing it!" Shippou urged.

"Uh…" she really did not want to.

"Come on, I did," Serena said, pouting. "It wouldn't be fair if it was just me."

Kagome sighed. "All right." She closed her eyes and got the tune in her head before beginning.

__

"Went back home again

This sucks gotta pack up and leave again

Say goodbye to all my friends

Can't say when I'll be there again

It's time now to turn around

Turn my back on everything, turn my back on everything

Everything's changing when I turn around

All out of my control I'm a mobile

Everything's changing when I turn around

All out of my control I'm a mobile

Start back at this life

Stretch myself back into the vibe

I'm waking up to say I've tried

Instead of waking up to another day of school

It's time now, to turn around

Turn and walk on this crazy ground… ohohoh

Everything's changing when I turn around

All out of my control I'm a mobile

Everything's changing out of what I know

Everywhere I go I'm a mobile

I'm a mobile

Hanging from the ceiling

Life's a mobile

Spinning round with mixed feelings

Crazy and wild…

Sometimes I wanna scream out loud

Everything's changing

Everywhere I go

All out of my control

Everything's changing 

Everywhere I go

Out of what I know

Everywhere I go I'm a mobile."

Everyone stared at her for a long while, and she began to get nervous. "What? Was I that bad?"

"No," Sango said slowly. "No, you have a wonderful voice. It's just… the song. It makes it seem as if you… as if you don't like being here," she told her hesitantly.

Kagome looked around her circle of friends and except for Serena and Darien they all seemed to agree with Sango. Even Inuyasha seemed to be thinking the same thing if the hurt in his eyes meant anything.

She was too shocked to say anything at first. After all the time she spent with them, they thought she did not want to be there?

"Are you all insane?!" she said, partly voicing her thoughts. Her question brought mixed reactions from her friends.

Sango and Miroku looked ashamed. They apparently had understood what she was saying. Shippou's eyes were watery, he was obviously trying desperately to hold back tears. Kouga was looking confused and a little upset. In a typical fashion, Inuyasha was angry.

"_Us_ insane? Who's the insane one here?! You fucking bitch! You expect us to like the fact that you hate being here with us?"

Kagome would have gotten angry in return if it was not for the hurt that stood out in his eyes still that belied the anger. Her next actions were based purely off of instinct.

One instant Kagome was staring at the hurt in Inuyasha's eyes and the next she was throwing her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest. This effectively evaporated his front of anger, and he hesitantly hugged her back.

"You're an idiot, Inuyasha," Kagome said, her voice muffled from her position. She pulled back just enough to look him in the eye. "I have never hated a moment of my time here. I love being here with you, and Sango and Miroku and Shippou." As she said each name she looked into their eyes. She did not notice the disgruntled wolf demon that was growling almost inaudibly at being ignored. No sooner had she said Shippou's name than she was back to looking at Inuyasha. "That is what the song means to me. It's about being confused about what I want. Do I want to go home and never return? Hell no! But I can't stay here forever either. I'm torn, Inuyasha, between two times that I love that have people that I love in them. Can you understand that?"

Inuyasha did not reply. Instead he tightened his hold on her and rested his cheek on her head, inhaling the scent that he so loved. They parted half a minute later, both blushing furiously. But even as they returned to their original positions Inuyasha's arm remained around Kagome's waist as she leaned into him.

Kouga did not even dare to growl. Miroku's staff was in a ready position to bonk him on the head, and he did not want to risk killing the monk in front of Kagome even though he so wanted to in return for all of the head trauma he was receiving that night.

"Uh, Kagome?" Serena ventured. "Didn't you change a line in the song?"

"Yeah," Kagome replied with a grin. "I always sing it wrong on purpose. I figure 'Instead of waking up to another day of school' works better than 'Instead of waking up to another TV Guide'."

There was a slightly uncomfortable silence after that, and Shippou once again took it upon himself to put an end to it.

"Sing some more songs from your time Kagome! Serena! You both have such pretty voices!" He gave them his best 'I'm so cute that you can't resist me' look. The girls blushed at the compliment.

"So, what should we sing!" Serena mused. "Something by… Korn? Limp Biskit? Eminem?"

"No!" Kagome shouted, panic in evident in her voice and on her face. Inuyasha's arm reflexively tightened around her, pulling her closer to him. "Oh dear Lord no! No need to corrupt their minds!"

Serena just chuckled. "I was joking, but it was worth it!" Then a truly evil-looking grin spread on her face. "You know... we girls are outnumbered here by guys. So you know what we should sing?"

"What?" Kagome asked for show, because she was pretty sure what Serena had in mind.

"Love songs!"

This produced groans from four guys and giggles from three girls. Shippou, and Kirara of course, were indifferent.

Kagome decided to take pity on her friends. "All right, how about no sappy love songs?" Serena nodded in agreement, and a few sighs of relief were heard.

"Got any in mind?" Serena asked.

"Let me think…" Kagome trailed off, trying to remember a non-sappy song. It had been so long since she had listened to the radio. "Hmm… Oh! How about _Hanging By A Moment_?"

Serena thought for a moment before nodding. "You start off and then I'll join in."

Kagome nodded and began.

__

"Desperate for changing

Starving for truth

I'm closer to where I started

Chasing after you

I'm falling even more in love with you

Letting go of all I held onto

I'm standing here until you make me move

I'm hanging by a moment here with you

Forgetting all I'm lacking

Completely incomplete

I'll take your invitation

You take all of me now

I'm falling even more in love with you

Letting go of all I held onto

I'm standing here until you make me move

I'm hanging by a moment here with you

I'm living for the only thing I know

I'm running and not quite sure where to go

And I don't know what I'm diving into

Just hanging by a moment here with you

There is nothing else to lose

There is nothing else to find

There is nothing in the world

That could change my mind

There is nothing else

There is nothing else

There is nothing else

I'm falling even more in love with you

Letting go of all I held onto

I'm standing here until you make me move

I'm hanging by a moment here with you

I'm living for the only thing I know

I'm running and not quite sure where to go

And I don't know what I'm diving into

Just hanging by a moment here with you."

The two girls finished the song, each proud that they could sing in perfect harmony with the other.

"I like that song," Sango said. Miroku gave the hand that he was holding a squeeze, causing her to blush.

Serena let out a yawn. "One more, and then I'm off to bed."

Darien frowned down at her. "You've been using the crystal too much."

Serena laughed. "I'm willing to be a little tired Muffin, as long as the crystal keeps letting me borrow its power."

Darien sighed. "All right, but I don't have to like it."

"Of course not," Serena said, and kissed him on his cheek. Then she abruptly changed the subject. "How about _Iris_?"

"_Iris_?" Kagome said, the name not ringing a bell.

"Goo Goo Dolls sings it. It was in _City of Angels_."

"Oh yeah! Uh… you first. I'll join in once I'm sure I know it."

"All right." After a moment she began.

__

"And I'd give up forever to touch you

'Cause I know that you feel me somehow

You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be

And I don't wanna go home right now

And all I can taste is this moment

And all I can breathe is your life

And sooner or later it's over

I just don't wanna miss you tonight

And I don't want the world to see me

'Cause I don't think that they'd understand

When everything's made to be broken

I just want you to know who I am

And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming

Or the moment of truth in your lies

When everything feels like the movies

Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive

And I don't want the world to see me

'Cause I don't think that they'd understand

When everything's made to be broken

I just want you to know who I am."

Kagome finished off on her own, because halfway through Serena had a yawning attack. Kagome looked over at Shippou and saw that he was curled up, sound sleep. Kouga next to him was yawning.

"Well, I guess we're all tired." She reluctantly left the warmth of Inuyasha's arm around her to lay out her sleeping bag. She picked Shippou up and soon the two were cuddled up in the sleeping bag. Sango sprawled out on the ground with her blanket. For once she was not anxious about Miroku leaning against a tree by her head to sleep. Serena and Darien cuddled up together by the fire, and Serena was asleep a moment later. Inuyasha waited until Kouga was settled down _far_ from Kagome before he jumped into a tree above her head.


	17. Chapter Sixteen

Wow, it's been awhile, hasn't it? Sorry, but I did warn that I probably wouldn't post over break. :) Oddly enough, it's easier to write when I have less time. But that's going to be put to the test this semester. Idiot that I am I'm taking four writing intensive classes that require a lot of out of class work. So, chances are, updates will be few and far between. Much apologies!

I made a wonderful discovery over break! Cartoon Network shows _Inuyasha_ at 3 in the morning! So, when I get up at 3 to work at 4, I can watch it! That made me very happy!!

Anyways, hope everyone had wonderful holidays! ;)

****

Lady Tristana Rogue: Hmm, I think I left off with you last time, but it's been so long that I can't remember! But anyways, thanks! And sorry that it took so long to update!

****

Henio: Thanks! Sorry for the update delay!

****

X5-452Star: Hey, I would _never_ shoot a reviewer! They're too rare. ;) I really do appreciate the comments, but that doesn't mean I agree with them either. (Return the favor and don't shoot the writer!) While I do have a mild case of writer's block right now (or rather… haven't even glanced at the notebook recently), I actually really enjoy the filler chapter. It was a lot of fun to write. I know I should be writing for the readers, but I hoped that some would enjoy it too. Besides, some of my favorite _Inuyasha_ episodes are the ones that are fillers. :)

****

Lady Tristana Rogue: Hi again! ;) Here here here! 

****

KhmerGirl: Thank you! Glad ya liked it!

****

shadinah: Oh, the story only gets more romantic from here on out! :) (Or, as romantic as I can write it.)

****

Jabba1: Thank you! Hope your holidays were wonderfully pleasant!

****

Prophetess of Hearts: LoL, that was probably the only sing along they'll have. At least as far as I know. It just may scream to be written at some point, but probably not.

****

amanda: Sorry that it's not all up, but it is a process. I find it annoying to have to wait for updates for the stories I like too, but patience is a virtue, after all! :) (If I had it all written, I'd throw it up right now, but as it is, I'm only halfway through the next chapter.)

****

Leira1: Hi! I'm glad you liked it! I had too much of a conscience to leave it at an exciting part for a month. :) (And I don't have a death wish!) As far as I can tell, it won't be ending for awhile… probably because I'm not quite sure _how_ to get to the end yet…. :\ Hee hee… I should probably figure that out, shouldn't I?

****

Simply a Lady: Oooh, I sympathize. I have so many stories floating around in my head right now I barely have time to concentrate in class. Sometimes I don't. And that's very, very bad! Last time I bothered to count I have 5+ stories clogging my brain… all _Inuyasha_ stories. Sad thing is, the only one NOT floating around in there is this one! Bad! Bad!

EvanescenceShine3: Oh yeah! I've heard of Pontiac! Hey… you changed your name, didn't you? You must've. Aren't they great? (Evanescence). Actually, that's the CD in my stereo right now! I *love* _My Immortal_!

****

Dria: Thanks for the encouragement! Yeah, I do really like both, though right now more _Inuyasha_ cause I actually have access to it…

****

Sailor Chibi Moon14: Ya know, it never even crossed my mind… you actually made me think on it for a moment, but then, I couldn't seem to work it in there. So, no, sorry. They'll probably be in the story towards the very end though, but just not in Feudal Japan.

Phew! Lots of reviews! Thank you very much!

Chapter Sixteen: Action - nope, Fluff - yupyupyup! And you're gonna hate me for some of it!

______________________________

Inuyasha did not get much sleep for all of the thinking he did. He thought about Kagome and Kikyo, about what was going to happen once the jewel was complete and Naraku was dead. Would he survive the final battle? Would any of them? - He growled at himself for that. In the very least Kagome would survive. He would make sure of that. - But if they both survived, what then? Would she leave him for her world? Would she stay with him? Would she - would she want to be his mate?  


His thoughts followed along several paths that night, but they all led to Kagome. If he had truly stopped and thought about it Kikyo only entered his thoughts anymore when it was in connection to Kagome. But he would not let himself think about it. Not yet. Not until he was sure that she would not leave him forever.

With all the thoughts bombarding his mind, Inuyasha did not get any sleep that night. It was all right for him though because he could survive the day on no sleep. Kagome on the other hand, who had not fallen asleep until just before dawn, could not. The fact that she too could not sleep had tinged in his mind all night, but he had the sense that she too was in deep thought and did not want to be disturbed.

That may have been a mistake, not making her get some sleep, because she refused to wake up when Sango told her that breakfast was ready. They all decided to let her sleep longer, but when Shippou tried to wake her up, it was to no avail. 

"We should get going," Miroku said. "Who knows how long Kagura's scent will last." Everyone nodded in agreement. "Now… we've just got to get Kagome up," Miroku reminded them.

"I'll do it," Inuyasha said, startling them all. He felt satisfaction at having made Kouga stop in his movements towards Kagome.

Kagome was tired, really tired, and she did not want to get up. So when someone shook her shoulder for the third time in the space of an hour, she snapped.

"Would you leave me alone!" She did not even bother opening her eyes, she just rolled over and tried to fall back asleep. She was startled from her attempts however when the fabric covering her was suddenly pulled back. There was not time to complain though because an instant later she felt arms under her legs and behind her back lift her away from the warmth of her sleeping bag. She opened her eyes and looked at the culprit.

"Inuyasha?"

He smiled down at her, shocking her all the more. He set her down and turned his back to her.

"Get on."  
  
"Huh?" Kagome said, too tired to comprehend this kind gesture from Inuyasha.

"Get on. We have to get going, but you're still tired. So get on and you can sleep."

As this information sunk in Kagome had the urge to be cliché and say 'Who are you and what did you do with Inuyasha?' but held her tongue. She turned to look back at her inviting sleeping bag, but found it already rolled up and in her bag - done by a proudly grinning Shippou. With a defeated sigh she climbed onto Inuyasha's back. She had always felt safe and comfortable on Inuyasha's back, so it was not long before she felt sleep sneaking up on her. Before she fell asleep though she whispered to Inuyasha, "You can be so sweet sometimes."

Inuyasha smiled, but did not bother answering her, for she was already asleep.

Inuyasha was content to walk ahead of the group, still following the tell tale signs of Kagura's scent. It was not until he looked back at his friends behind him that he noticed the addition to his group.

"What are you still doing following us, wolf?" he said, just loud enough for Kouga to hear, but not loud enough to wake Kagome up.

"Kagome invited me to join the group, so I am," Kouga yelled.

Inuyasha had to hold back a growl when Kagome began to shift, having been disturbed from her sleep by Kouga's yell.

"Keep it down idiot! Kagome's sleeping!" He hissed to the wolf demon, again as quietly as possible. Then to Kagome he said in a soft voice, "Go back to sleep. Everything's okay." No sooner had he said that then Kagome was once again sleeping. He gritted his teeth and quickly said what he said next. "You can stay, but don't make me regret it." He then turned his back on Kouga and continued on, not allowing for further exchange of words. It helped that Miroku and Sango looked at their weapons pointedly whenever Kouga opened his mouth.

They walked in silence for the rest of the morning, broken occasionally only by whispered conversations between Sango and Miroku or Darien and Serena. By the time it was time for lunch, Kagome was awake.

"Sleep good?" Inuyasha asked her once he was sure she was awake.

"Yeah," Kagome said with a yawn.

"Want down?"

"Not particularly," she said after hesitating for a moment. She closed her eyes, ready for the "Too bad" and the drop to the ground. It never came. She relaxed the muscles that she had tensed unconsciously and rested her chin on Inuyasha's shoulder.

"Did you have to invite that wimpy wolf to tag along?" Inuyasha asked after several minutes of silence.

Kagome giggled. "I was wondering if you had even noticed, considering he's still with us."

"Keh, would you have preferred that I fought him?"

"Of course not," she said, reaching up and tweaking his ear.

"Hey! Leave the ears alone!" he yell indignantly.

"Oh, but they're so soft!" Kagome gushed teasingly as she stroked a finger from the tip of his left ear to the base. She giggled when it tried to flick away from her finger.

"Keh!" was his reply, but Kagome could see a blush creep up his cheek. She decided to leave his ears alone for the time being, and got a little more serious. "I'm glad you're not making a big deal about Kouga joining us. If we really are getting closer to finding Naraku then we'll need all the help we can get."

"I know," Inuyasha admitted grudgingly.

Kagome was about to tease him about admitting that he needed help when her stomach growled violently.

"Hungry?" Inuyasha asked her, chuckling.

"Kinda," Kagome replied, a bright red blush appearing on her face.

"Yeah, well you haven't eaten since lunch yesterday. I bet you're hungry."

"Hmm," Kagome mused. "I guess I haven't eaten in awhile. I didn't notice." It surprised her that Inuyasha would notice when even she did not. Then her stomach growled again.

"All right, all right. We'll stop for some lunch. Stop growling at me," he said, a cheeky grin on his face.

"Oh shut up," Kagome grumbled. She received a throaty chuckle in reply. She was about to tweak his ear in retaliation when Inuyasha crested the steep hill he had been climbing. At the bottom of the hill was a meadow that had a river running though it lazily. So entranced with the view was she that Kagome missed the evil grin that crept onto Inuyasha's face. Though she did notice the evil chuckle.

"What?" she asked suspiciously.

All she got for a reply was "Hang on!" before Inuyasha ran down the hill at a pace that left her breathless. As suddenly as he had started, he stopped. He let Kagome down off his back a moment later, but kept one arm firmly around her waist as she was unsteady on her feet. She turned her head and looked at him, an unreadable expression on her face. When she did not say anything for several moments he began to panic.

"S-sorry! I won't do that again!" he said, worried that she was mad at him. He was understandably a bit shocked when she broke out in a grin and hugged him.

"No way! That was fun! You've never gone that fast before just for the fun of it!" she grinned up at him.

"I'll just have to do it more often then," he said, smiling down at her. Her eyes twinkled in joy at the knowledge that he was basically saying that his back would be offered to her more often.

They continued to smile at each other, but then they both seemed to realize the position they were in at the same time. Kagome's hands were locked behind Inuyasha's neck, and his hands rested on the small of her back. The smiles faded from their lips as their heads inched almost imperceptibly closer. 

They were achingly far from their mutual goal when an angry growl reached their ears. Both their heads snapped in the direction the noise came from. It was not so much the infuriated wolf demon that made them spring apart as it was the two couples that were looking at them with knowing smiles.

"Err, uh, we're stopping for lunch," Inuyasha explained, face red with embarrassment.

Kagome's face was equally red, but slowly turned horrified as Sango and Serena approached her with evil little grins on their faces. She looked to Inuyasha for help as they each grabbed an arm and began leading her away with the claim of looking for firewood. He looked back at her, a helpless expression on his face. It was obvious to Kagome that Inuyasha was just as confused and flustered by what had happened - _almost_ happened - as she was. So Kagome was pulled unresisting into the woods where she was then attacked by questions.

"Were you two going to kiss?" Serena asked.

"Sure looked like it," Sango commented.

"Why did he take off like that?"

"What were you two talking about?"

"What was up with the ear thing?"

"Why were you so tired this morning?"

"And why didn't you kiss him?!" they said in unison, ending the short tirade of questions.

Kagome blinked back at them as they stared at her. "Well?!" they exclaimed at her after a full minute had passed. That startled Kagome from her silence.

"Uh, okay… well... I was up most of the night thinking about stuff and didn't fall asleep until this morning. We were talking about Kouga joining our group and helping to beat Naraku. I like his ears. He went fast for the fun of it. And I guess we were going to kiss, but we'll never know for sure now, will we?" she finished, glaring at her two friends, who had enough grace to look abashed.

"Hey, we weren't going to interrupt," Sango said with a wave of her hands. "Kouga getting a little pissed off is what stopped you two."

"A _little_ pissed off?" Serena said with a laugh. "Both Darien and Miroku had to hold him back from trying to kill Inuyasha then and there."

Kagome had to giggle at that. Then a deliciously evil idea crossed her mind.

"Speaking of kissing," Kagome drawled out. "Have you and Miroku kissed yet?" she asked Sango.

"Wha- huh? Uh, uh…" Sango stammered nervously, her face flushing a bright red. "Oh! Look! Wood! Going to get wood!" she yelled as she ran off.

"Turning the tables, eh?" Serena chuckled.

"Hey, gotta get the heat off of me… and don't you start!"

"I won't, I promise," Serena said, grinning.

The grin slowly faded from Kagome as she remembered what she had wanted to ask Serena. "Uh, Serena? If what you told me is true and the Shikon jewel is waiting for me to purify it, then…. Well, how do I do it? Why wasn't it purified when I had it and it was whole?"

Serena had been expecting this question and was prepared with an answer.

"You didn't purify the jewel when it was whole, so it was still subject to corruption. As for how to purify it, I can't tell you that. That is something that you'll have to figure out on your own."

"Does that mean you don't know how to purify it or you won't tell me how?"

Serena just smiled and remained silent.

"Figures," Kagome said, putting a fake pout on her lips. A moment later the two girls broke out into laughter as they made their way back to the clearing. When they arrived they saw that Sango was already stoking a fire to life, a blush still apparent on her cheeks. Darien and Miroku had duplicate looks of exasperation on their faces as they listened to the growling match going on between Inuyasha and Kouga. Shippou, on the other hand, was finding it all very interesting as he looked on enraptured from Miroku's lap.

"Oh, knock it off!" Kagome said out of annoyance before going to Sango's side to help her with lunch. She barely noted that the growling had stopped, and went to her bag. She opened it and groaned.

Inuyasha heard the groan and his head automatically snapped away from his glaring contest with Kouga to rest concerned eyes on Kagome. "You okay?"

Kagome's head shot up to meet his eyes. "I'm fine, it's just that we've got only enough food for lunch. After that, we're basically out."

"Don't worry about it," Inuyasha said with a shrug. "Kouga and I will hunt."

"We will?" Kouga said with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you want to eat?" Inuyasha retorted. That silenced the wolf demon.

"Thanks," Kagome said to try to ease the tension. She and Sango set about fixing lunch. They ate quickly and after Serena and Darien did the dishes, packed up and continued on.

"Is the scent getting any stronger?" Sango asked after two hours of the fast pace that Inuyasha had set.

"Not really," Inuyasha admitted.

"Could we be walking into a trap?" Miroku asked musingly. He received a shrug in reply.

"Let's hope not," Kagome said over her shoulder from her position next to Inuyasha.

"I don't think so," Kouga said seriously. "Kagura was probably too scared to mask her scent completely."

"Probably," Kagome said hopefully.

They continued on like that for the rest of the day. Inuyasha following his nose, the group following Inuyasha, Kouga following Kagome. Conversations were limited, even between the couples, for a sense of anticipation had settled over them all. Something loomed ahead of them, they could feel it in their very bones. The time to face down Naraku would be soon.

Kagome was lost in her thoughts as she walked beside Inuyasha. She knew that they were walking towards what could be the end of their lives. She hated to think of the possibility that her friends would die, and the thought of Inuyasha dying brought an especially painful pang to her heart. But she knew the risks they were taking and she knew probably only a quarter of the actual number of how many people Naraku had killed or hurt in his quest for the Shikon Jewel. So, there was a high probability that they could be added to that list. She decided then and there - while walking beside Inuyasha towards a darkening horizon - that there were some things she had to tell him before they met with Naraku. Tonight she would bare her soul.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

Whew! That took awhile again, didn't it? Sorry! But I did warn ya all! In case you don't believe me, let me tell you about my classes:

Two of my classes are baccalaureate-level classes. Which means, *lots* of writing. Another class is a journalism class that requires me to go out to a bunch a stupid events and write articles about them. (I'm not fond of hard news). And my other class requires me to do four hours of fieldwork a week. Which wouldn't be bad, but it takes _forever_ to type up and organize four hours worth of fieldnotes!

So, in other words, I'm busy writing. So when I get free time, one of the last things I want to do is… you got it! WRITE! But, every weekend, when I've actually got some time to myself, I do sit down and write, so never fear! I won't give up my fan fiction writing!

X5-452Star: You *should* write something! It would give _me_ something to read! :) Yeah, I guess this is back to normal, but the action won't really start until the *next* chapter!

****

Lady Tristana Rogue, **avalon**,** Henio:** Thank you! Sorry, but long delays between chapters is most likely the norm now. For awhile at least.

****

slvrstarlight: Fluff! Fluff! I *love* reading fluff! And… it's not too horrible to read either! … Want to know something strange? I'm listening to "My Immortal" right now too! (Yeah, I'm addicted to the CD!)

****

SilverWingPhoenix: Read on and you'll see!

****

dizzy4: Awwwe! Thanks! I'm glad that you think that I have some talent… sometimes I do need to hear it, because sometimes I'm not sure if it's true. :) But, we all have those moments, don't we?

****

Simply a Lady: I've checked out "Simply a Familiar Scent", but I'm not familiar with the crossover part (it had 'familiar' in it somewhere, if I remember correctly). I don't normally read crossovers where I'm not familiar with the other component. … As for Kagome purifying the jewel… you'll just have to wait and see! ;)

****

KhmerGirl: Sorry it took so long!

****

shadinah: Oh, thank you! I'm glad it's not getting worse! ;) Sorry to make you wait for so long!

****

daisy31: You know something, I never liked reading xovers either. :) Never found one that I really liked, so I decided to *write* one that I like! I really suggest it… it's the one way of actually getting what you want out of a storyline. :)

****

EvanescenceShine3: Evanescence is in my CD player again. ;) I always have to listen to music when I type up a chapter, and right now I'm on an Evanescence kick. :)

****

Yueh-miko: Hope I didn't make you wait for too long!

****

chelsea c: Awwe! Don't cry! I'll never take a month again to update… I hope. I'm really working on it, I promise! 

All right, well this is another talkie chapter. But, it should be one of the last ones for awhile! After this chapter, things will start moving along again. This chapter just wraps up a few loose ends for Kagome and Inuyasha. So, enjoy!

_________________________

They dined on rabbit and venison that night. The venison was provided by Inuyasha, who was quite smug when Kouga came back to camp a half-hour after him with only two rabbits. He also had a good laugh when Kagome, Sango and Serena ganged up on the wolf demon and made him go out in the woods and clean the rabbits himself. If it was one thing Inuyasha had learned it was that unless he wanted to face the wrath of Sango and Kagome combined, it was best to bring back food clean and as bloodless as possible.

They all ate well that night, and there was even some meat leftover to set aside in Kagome's storage containers. Darien and Miroku were stuck with clean-up duty, as the demons had done the hunting and the girls had done the cooking. While the guys cleaned, Sango and Serena were huddled together, giggling about something. Kagome decided to take the opportunity to pull Inuyasha aside and talk to him, but was not sure how to approach him. As she sat, lost in thought, she became restless, tapping her fingers on the ground beside her and twirling a piece of her hair around a finger with the other hand. Inuyasha himself gave her the best way to broach the subject of talking.

"Hey, you okay?"

The voice startled Kagome from her thoughts and she looked up to see Inuyasha staring at her.

"Huh? Oh… yeah." Then she mentally slapped herself, reminding herself not to lose this perfect opportunity. "Uh, actually…" His eyes that had already moved off to look elsewhere returned to her. "Actually, I need to talk to you." She looked him right back in the eye, and he could see that she was serious, so he nodded. "Can we go elsewhere? Away from prying ears?"

"Sure," he said, turning his back to her. She climbed up, but before they could leave, their intentions were questioned.

"And where are you two going?" Miroku asked in a tone of voice that they had not heard in several days.

"Shut up monk!" Inuyasha growled out.

Kagome went a different route. "We have to talk about something." Her tone of voice was so serious that Miroku sobered right up. "Let's just go," she said, giving Inuyasha's shoulder a squeeze. He complied by leaping away into the night.

He ran for a long while, so long that Kagome lost track of time. She did not complain though, because she was trying to gather her thoughts, trying to figure out just what and how she was going to tell him. She got the feeling that Inuyasha was stalling for time too. But he could not run forever, and so eventually came to a stop.

Kagome got off his back and looked around before settling down on the grass. Inuyasha had brought them to a hilltop that overlooked a lake. The lake below them mirrored the sky about them so that there were two fields of glittering stars and two crescent moons shining brightly. Even with her thoughts clouding her mind the beauty of the scene was not lost on her. She wished she could just forget what they had come there for so that she might gaze upon the majesty of the night in peace. But she felt Inuyasha's eyes burning into her, and knew that her wish would not be granted.

"Do you feel it?" Kagome asked, breaking the silence that had stretched between them.

"Feel what?" Inuyasha asked, eyes still boring into her.

"That we're nearing the end of our quest. Soon it will all be over." She sat and waiting for a response, but did not get one. She took the silence as agreement, because he would have let her know if she was just being stupid. "There's so many ways it could end…" she trailed off, not wanted to finish the thought.

"Hey," Inuyasha said, his voice gruff. "We'll all make it through. I won't let anything happen to anyone," he said. _'I won't let anything happen to you,'_ he silently added.

Kagome turned to him and smiled a little. "I know. We all look out for each other." She took a deep breath and blurted out her next sentence. "You can't have the jewel when it's completed." There, she had said it, and now she waited for the outburst that was sure to follow.

"I never thought you were going to give it to me," was his only reply.

"You didn't?" Kagome asked. He shook his head. "Huh," she said with a blush. "I guess I had been thinking about giving it to you for so long that I just forgot that I never told you I would."

"You were going to give me the jewel?" Inuyasha asked, unable to hide his surprise.

Kagome was shocked that he was surprised. "Of course! Well, I wasn't planning to at first, but as I got to know you I came to realize that you deserved it. You've fought harder than any of us, lost more blood than any of us, all for the jewel. I came to trust you, but… but everything's changed now!"

That familiar look of hurt returned to Inuyasha's eyes. "What changed?" he asked, unable to stop the hurt from seeping into his voice too.

Kagome hated to see that look in his eyes. She had seen too much of that recently, and so she hurried to make it go away. "You remember how I told you yesterday that you would be the first person to know what Serena and I had talked about?" He nodded, and Kagome was relieved to see him relax a little. "Serena told me how her crystal had been formed, and the story is almost identical to how the Shikon jewel was formed." She then repeated the story she had heard the day before.

Inuyasha sat and listened to the brief tale that was so similar to one he had heard before. "So, the Shikon jewel is like Serena's crystal?" he asked to clarify things. Kagome nodded. "But this Aliana fought for two days before creating the crystal. Midoriko fought for seven."

That made Kagome pause in her thoughts. Inuyasha had caught a detail that had passed her by. "I never thought of that. I'll have to ask Serena about that."

Inuyasha looked mildly pleased to have thought of something that Kagome had not, but pushed it aside. There were still a lot of things they had to talk about.

"So if the jewel is like the crystal and the crystal could only be purified by one person, then the jewel can only be purified by one person?" Kagome nodded. "And… you…?" Again Kagome nodded. He had to think about this for a moment. The moment stretched into several minutes before he spoke again. "So if you are the only one who can purify the jewel then all we have to do is get the jewel, you purify it, and no one else will be able to corrupt it again?"

"Yeah," Kagome said with a nod. "We've only got to get the jewel from Naraku," she added with a humorless laugh. Inuyasha gave a snort in agreement. "I really am sorry that I can't give you the jewel, Inuyasha," Kagome whispered a moment later. The thought had been troubling her since Serena had first told her the destiny of the jewel.

"I told you," he said with a slight sigh, "I never expected to get the jewel, I didn't know you were planning on giving it to me. But," he had to swallow his instinct to keep his thoughts and feelings to himself. "But somewhere, somehow it stopped being about the jewel. The jewel became about getting closer to Naraku, about making sure we had one more shard that he didn't. And - and the fighting became about protecting you - and the others!" he hastily added, but not in time to save himself from a blush.

Kagome nodded, knowing that even though she was practically blind in the darkness, Inuyasha could see just fine. She did not want to say anything to Inuyasha, but she knew when it had become about killing Naraku. It was the moment he realized that it had been Naraku who had pitted him and Kikyo against each other all those years ago.

Kagome mentally shook herself to rid herself of thoughts of Kikyo. No matter how much she hated to admit it, her life had been going better since Kikyo had passed on. Inuyasha had been sweeter to her and showed more concern. There was even the incident early in the day… This time it took a mental slap to the head to get her thoughts to diverge to a different path. This time the path took her down a road that she was not sure she liked being on. She had promised herself that she would bare her soul that night, but now that the time had come she was not sure if she wanted to. The fear of rejection clung heavy to her heart, but she would have to push it aside and go for it.

Inuyasha sat and watched as emotions played across Kagome's face. Happiness, sadness, anxiety, even a touch of fear. He was not sure what was going on in her mind, but he aimed to find out. Except, Kagome beat him to it.

"Hey, Inuyasha?" she said softly.

"Yeah?" he answered back, his voice also quieter than normal in order to not break the stillness of the night.

"I, uh… do you remember that song I sang that got everyone upset?"

"Yeah," he said in a tone of voice that clearly said he still did not like the song.

"I was thinking last night about it, and I came to a decision… sort of."

Inuyasha's heart skipped a beat. She had come to a decision. _'She's gonna leave me. She's gonna leave me. She's gonna leave me…'_ "What… what decision?" _'She's gonna leave me. She's gonna leave me. She's gonna…'_

"I don't know if I'm going to stay in one era permanently when this is over with, assuming that the well will stay open since the jewel won't be disappearing. But I do know that I - that I, uh…" She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, tying to calm her nerves. "But I do know that no matter what, I would like to stay by your side."

She shut her eyes and waiting for the 'Keh' or the laughter that she felt sure was going to come. So it is needless to say that she was surprised when he instead pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her. She hesitated for a moment before snaking her arms around his back and resting her forehead on his shoulder. He in turn rested a cheek on the top of her head.

They stayed like that as the moon passed by slowly overhead. Neither of them felt tired, just content to be in each other's arms. For this was the first time since they began their journey that they both felt free to do so.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha softly whispered into her ear after almost an hour of the soothing embrace.

"Mm?" she said back, so softly that even he almost did not hear it.

"We should get back." She let out what could only be called a whimper, which caused him to chuckle.

"What?" she said in an annoyed tone.

"Y-you _whimpered_," he said, still chuckling.

"Do you have a problem with me not wanting to move?" she replied softly.

His breathed hitched at her confession, and he pulled her all the more closer to him. "No, not at all," he whispered. "But you need to get some sleep."

Kagome sighed. She knew he was right, but she also knew that they probably would not have a chance to be at peace like this for a long time. "All right, let's go back to camp." She made a move to get up, but was stopped when Inuyasha instead stood up with her in his arms.

"No reason to move you yet," he said, and was rewarded by her snuggling closer to him.

He walked back to camp, which was much closer than he led Kagome to believe. All the same it took him a while to make it back, because they were both reluctant to let the other go.

Kagome reveled in the feeling of being in Inuyasha's arms. Of course she had been in this position before - being carried bridal style by Inuyasha - but all other times it had been merely to get her out of harms way. This time everything was peaceful, and she could freely and openly nestle into his arms.

__

'I love being in his arms like this,' she thought. _'I wish we could do this more often. I wish that the unknown wasn't always hanging over our heads. That Naraku was not such a threat. That there is such a big possibility that we will all die soon. I hope we all make it through okay, and that Inuyasha will let be stay by his side. I hope he won't push me away… I wish'_

"Wish what?" Inuyasha said, breaking her train of thought.

"Huh?" she said, looking up at him.

"You just said 'I wish'. You wish what?" he said, gazing into her eyes.

She broke the gaze and pressed her face into his shoulder. She contemplated whether or not to tell him what had been on her mind. She decided a moment later that she had already told him much of what was in her heart, so why not what was on her mind?

"I wish…" she hesitated for a moment, before slowly drawling out, "I wish that we could always be like this."

She waited with bated breath for his reply, but one was not forthcoming. She forced herself to breathe evenly, but could not bring herself to look up at his face. Instead she closed her eyes with a sigh and decided to just be content with the here and now.

In his defense, Inuyasha was incapable of speech at the moment. He was, to put it simply, stunned. He had started out the night sure that Kagome would decide to leave him at the end of their quest, despite any love she may feel for him. Yet now, come to find out, her heart was at the same place as his. She was going to stay by his side, and he was going to stay by hers. And he was going to tell her so, but Serena's words came back to him:

__

'Take it slow. If you suddenly wanted a relationship with Kagome, she would think she was merely a replacement.'

…or something like that. So how to tell her he felt the same without giving her the impression that she was just a replacement?

When they finally reentered the camp everyone was asleep, and Inuyasha had still not found the right words to say. Inuyasha found that someone - probably Sango - had set out Kagome's sleeping bag and had pulled it back, ready for her to slip in. A quick glance around found Shippou curled up in Serena's arms.

Inuyasha gently set Kagome down on her sleeping bag. She automatically snuggled into it, and turned her back to Inuyasha, never once opening her eyes. She was not angry with him at all, she just did not want to see her own feelings not reflected in his eyes.

"Kagome," Inuyasha said softly, but she did not respond. "Kagome," he tried again, a little more forcefully this time. With a sigh she turned and looked up at him. He stared down at her. Now that he had her attention, he was still not sure of to say.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome said, her question in her voice.

"Kagome," he replied. Then, on a whim, he caressed her cheek with his hand, and then rested it there. She tilted her head to be closer to his warmth. "Kagome… I just… I need…" He paused and took a deep breath. "Kagome, just give me time."

Kagome gazed up at him for a moment before a small smile graced her lips. Her hand covered his own and gently pulled it from her cheek. "As long as you need," she said. She then kissed his palm and released his hand. With a smile she closed her eyes and returned to her original position.

Inuyasha lingered over her for a moment before standing up and leaping into the tree above where she lay. It was not until he was comfortably settled against the trunk that he allowed the smile to creep onto lips. For the first time since he was a child, his heart was light and his future was bright.


	19. Chapter Eighteen

Hi! Bet ya'all hate me now for taking so long, don't ya? Well, I am really sorry about the delay, but I did warn you about all my obligations this semester. Today (Friday) is the first day I've had off (literally) in three weeks, and I spent my time finishing writing this chapter and typing it up.

Side note: It's a beautiful day today! Blue skies with pretty white clouds and bright sun! Well, not so much the bright sun any more because the sun is setting, but the sky is a pretty magenta now! Of course, this is all offset by the frigid air temps and snow covered ground, but oh well, the pretty day makes me happy. :)

Okay, enough rambling… onto review responses!

****

SilverWingPhoenix: Nope, this isn't any more exciting. You'll be wanting the *next* chapters. :)

****

X5-452Star: You proud of me? I didn't force my writers block, and now it's gone! (But it left me with a not-very-exciting Chapter Eighteen. But a necessary one…) LoL… now it's just a matter of finding the time to write. :)

****

sadinah: I feel the same way as you! If only Inuyasha was real, I would be a happy chick… then again, maybe I wouldn't because I'd have a couple of thousand other girls who want him too! Hee hee. Oh, and keep looking, you never know when you'll find *the* guy!

****

Henio: Thanks! (STILL listening to them when I type stuff up. Can't help it. :) )

****

Christine: Thank you so much! I was worried that the characters weren't blending well enough. I feel bad enough as it is because Sango and Miroku were shoved aside, and I really do like their storylines. But I thought Serena/Darien and Inuyasha/Kagome were more important. But thank you, that assures me that I'm doing it okay! ;)

****

Jabba1: Welcome back. ;) Oooh… yeah, I have to go through the moving thing soon too. Well, not *too* soon… in July, but I have my apartment and everything already. I'm not looking forward to the moving part…. Anyways, thanks for reading!!

****

LadySilvrene: LoL! That was the funniest thing I've read in awhile! Glad to hear from all of you!

****

ishkabod: Oh! Thank you! I hope everything past Chapter Two satisfied you too, cause I know it gets a little more serious from there. But thank you!! :)

All right then... on to the chapter! Just a warning, each of you is probably going to hate me for this chapter, all for different reasons. Why? Read on and see for yourself.

___________________

Kagome awoke the next morning to urgent muffled sounds. She blinked in the early morning sun before sitting up to investigate. She saw that the sounds were coming from a noticeable angry Kouga who was bound and gagged with Miroku's prayer seals.

"Kouga!" Kagome exclaimed, scrambling out of her sleeping bag. Her shout brought everyone out of their slumbers. Miroku was the first to realize what was happening.

"Lady Kagome! Uh… let me get those for you," Miroku said, trying to remain brave even under Kagome's slightly evil glare.

"Don't blame him," Serena said through a yawn. "Kouga was going nuts after you and Inuyasha left. Miroku did that so that we could get some sleep."

Kagome looked over to Sango to confirm the story and was met with a nod.

When Kagome turned back to Kouga and Miroku, Miroku had just finished taking off the last seal. Kouga took a moment to stand up and stretch, but then he took off so fast that no one saw it coming. He did not go too far though, just to the other side of camp where a sleepy Inuyasha still sat in his tree, watching them. Kagome figured out what Kouga was doing just in time. With a resounding "SIT!" Inuyasha fell to the ground, barely avoiding the fierce attack. Kouga crashed into the tree and fell back onto a branch, slightly dizzy. That gave Kagome just enough time to run over to Inuyasha and stand over him. She had perfect timing because it did not take long for Kouga to recover.

"Kagome, move!" Inuyasha yelled from his position beneath her.

"Not a chance. Just stay there." She saw him move to get up. "Sit," she said, and was satisfied to see him settle back down.

"Kagome, move," came again. This time it was through the clenched teeth of Kouga, who had made it back down the tree.

"No. You're not hurting Inuyasha. I don't want you two to fight," Kagome said with surprising calmness. "Actually, Kouga, we need to talk."

Kouga calmed down enough to unclench his jaw, and nod, albeit reservedly.

"Let's go," Kagome said and finally moved away from Inuyasha. She moved off into the woods but kept looking behind her to make sure that Kouga was following.

Back at camp Inuyasha merely sat up and leaned his back against a tree. Everyone left behind stared at him like he was a blue alien from the planet Zenith. Shippou was the one to approach him.

"Uh, Inuyasha?" Shippou asked, carefully moving closer until he was just in front of Inuyasha's knee.

"Whadya want, Squirt?"

"Kagome just went off… alone… with Kouga," he said, stating the obvious.

Inuyasha looked down at Shippou and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, so?"

Shippou's eyes widened. "Aren't you going to go kill Kouga?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Should I?"

Everyone, Shippou included, took a step back in shock, not quite believing that Inuyasha would give up a chance to kill Kouga. It made them all wonder just what had happened the night before between him and Kagome.

"Stop staring at me!" Inuyasha snapped, finally unable to take the gawking any longer. "I'm all right! Just pack up. We're leaving when they get back."

Everyone scurried to get everything together. Inuyasha remained where he was. He had managed to get everyone off his back about his strange behavior, which he was glad about. He did not want to reveal that he had not gone after Kagome and Kouga because he trusted Kagome and knew for sure she did not return Kouga's feelings.

Inuyasha closed his eyes, feigning sleep, but kept his ears alert. He may trust Kagome, but that did not mean that he was not allowed to listen…

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Kagome led Kouga to a spot not far from camp and stopped. She turned around to face Kouga and relaxed against a tree. Kouga looked back at her, not quite so relaxed. Neither said a word until the silence hung thick between them. Finally Kouga could not take it anymore. 

"Well?!" he snapped, throwing his hands up in the air before bringing them back to cross across his chest.

Kagome managed to hide that he had startled her.

"Why are you so upset?" she asked straight out.

Kouga looked at her, an incredulous look on his face. "Why am I upset? _Why am I upset?!_ Because dogturd took you away last night to who-knows-where and did who-knows-what to _my woman_! I have a right to be upset!"

"Do you?" Kagome said back. Kouga's jaw dropped open at her question. "I don't think you do have a right," she continued. "For one, I was the one who wanted to talk to Inuyasha. He did not just take me away. Two, it is no business of yours what we did, but we did _not_ do _that_. And three, for the last time, I am NOT your woman!"

Kouga was speechless for a moment, before getting an almost pleading look in his eyes. "But you _are_ my woman! I claimed you, and I love you."

"You don't love me, Kouga. You love the idea of a jewel shard detector. You really don't know me well enough to love me."

Kouga looked like he wanted to argue, but could not come up with a good reply.

"Besides, Kouga, would you really take me against my will? Don't I have a say?"

"I would _never_ take you against your will!" Kouga answered vehemently. "But I thought that you… that you would eventually love me." The look of sadness on his face almost made Kagome hold back her next words, but she fought against her conscious and won.

"No, Kouga. You will never be more than a friend to me. I love Inuyasha, and I think you know that. I have promised to stay by his side, and I will, whether he returns my love or not. Do you understand?"

Kouga remained motionless for almost a full minute before slowly, hesitantly, nodding.

"Good. Can we still be friends?" Kagome asked, giving him a brilliant smile. Kouga gave a half-smile in response, but nodded readily. "I'm glad. Now let's go back. I'm sure everyone wants to get going." Kagome headed back to camp, Kouga following behind her. Her heart was light with the banishment of one problem weighing her down.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

When Kagome reentered camp she was surprised to see that everyone was packed and waiting for her and Kouga. As soon as they stepped from the bushes Inuyasha rose from his position against the tree.

"Ready?" Was all he said, surprising Kagome all the more. She expected… more. She was not sure what she expected. Maybe some anger, but not the calm look he was giving her.

"Uh… yeah," she said, and went to pick up her bag. But Inuyasha beat her to it. Without a word he swung the bag over his shoulder and started down the path. Kagome stared after him for a moment before scrambling to catch up.

Everyone fell into what had become their natural traveling order. Inuyasha and Kagome led, Serena and Darien came next, then Sango and Miroku and finally Kouga trailing behind. Inuyasha set a fast pace, following the fading scent of Kagura, but unwilling to go any faster in case the trail disappeared all of a sudden.

Without her pack Kagome was able to keep up with Inuyasha's pace easily. Despite the speed walking, she was enjoying the day immensely, because Inuyasha was walking closer to her than normal. Every once in awhile his hand would brush against hers accidentally, and it would always send a thrill up her spine and put a smile on her face. 

It was probably the third time that it had happened after the quick lunch stop that Kagome began to wonder if it was accidental after all, since it had happened at least five times that morning. So, when his hand brushed hers again, she grabbed it and held it in her own. He hesitated for only a few seconds before he held her hand back. She looked up at him with a warm smile. He looked down at her, a grin lifting the corner of his lips. A moment later they looked forward, and did not glance at each other again. But the smiles never quite left.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

The group did not stop again until night had nearly fallen. The moment they stopped Kagome was kidnapped away by Sango and Serena with only shouts about the "hot spring we saw back there!" as an explanation. Inuyasha could not even try to come to her rescue because he was corned against a tree by Darien and Miroku.

"So, what happened last night?" Miroku asked with a lecherous grin. Inuyasha was about to slap him upside his head, but Darien beat him to it. But then Darien turned against him too.

"So, what happened last night?" he asked, but at least his grin was not a lecherous one.

Inuyasha contemplated not saying anything and just running away, but he knew they would never let it drop. Besides, Kagome was being grilled too, and he knew that she would be spilling it all right now. With a sigh, he told them.

"We came to an agreement, that's all." He almost left it at that, but saw the looks on Miroku's and Darien's faces, so he quickly added, "She's not going to leave me, I'm not going to leave her. There, ya happy?" he finished with a huff.

The two guys just stared at him for a moment before they simultaneously clapped him on a shoulder.  


"Well, that's something, at least," Darien said, and Miroku agreed.

"Yes, and you never mentioned Kikyo, I hope?" That received an evil looking glare from Inuyasha, resulting in both Miroku and Darien quickly releasing his shoulders. "I'll take that as a no," Miroku said, edging away. "Uh… oh, look! Wood!" and he rushed away from the evil glare.

Darien stayed just long enough to say, "You did the right thing, not saying anything you weren't ready to say." With that he walked away to join Miroku in his efforts to start a fire.

A ghost of a smile crossed Inuyasha's lips before he bounded away to do a little hunting with Kouga.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Kagome's interrogators were not so easy on her. They at least held off long enough for the three of them to get settled into the hot spring before they ambushed her.

"What happened last night?"

"Why were you gone for so long?"

"Did you ever get your kiss?"

"What did you talk about?"

"What was with the hand holding?"

"Any wedding bells in the future?"

"More importantly, any mate marks we should know about?"

"Stop it!" A very embarrassed, very red raced Kagome said as she sank deeper into the water. Serena and Sango laughed at their embarrassed friend.

"You have to tell us though! We're dying to know!" Serena begged.

Kagome glared at her friends from her nearly submerged position in the warm water. She knew they would never let her out until they had their answers though. With a sigh she rambled off her answers.

"We talked about beating Naraku a bit, and I told him I would stay by his side no matter what. We were holding hands because… I guess because we're taking things slow."

"But did you _kiss_?!" Serena urged.

"No!" Kagome exclaimed, but a blush still brightened her cheeks.

"You're blushing!" Sango pointed out gleefully. "You _did_ kiss!"

"No! We didn't kiss," Kagome insisted. "We just… we just kind of cuddled, I guess!"

"Spill!" Serena said.

"Tell us everything!" Sango added.

Kagome's face felt like it was ten degrees hotter than the hot springs she sat in. "What's to tell? He pulled me into a hug, I ended up in his lap and we stayed like that... for awhile."

Sango and Serena "Awwwe"d in unison.

"Oh shut up and pass me the shampoo!" Kagome said, and with that she effectively brought their minds to hygiene and away from her so-called love life.

They were all hungry so they hurried up and washed and were soon dried, dressed and ready to go. They were heading back to camp when Kagome realized that she had left her towel behind.

"Oh shoot! I left my towel back there. You two go ahead and I'll meet you back at camp."

"You sure?" Sango asked. Kagome nodded before turned back towards the hot spring. Serena and Sango went on back to camp. When they arrived back, two rabbits and five fish were roasting over the fire.

"Where's Kagome?" Inuyasha asked with concern when he saw that she was not with them.

"She left her towel so she had to go back and get it," Sango soothed.

Inuyasha waited for only a minute or so before jumping up. He stalked off muttering under his breath "Stupid wench is going to get herself killed wandering off."

The people left behind - except for a still-disgruntled wolf demon - exchanged knowing glances. That is, until they heard the angry howl of anguish coming from the direction of the hot springs.


	20. Chapter Nineteen

Hey all! Look! It didn't take another month to update. :) Aren't you proud of me? AND… I should have the next chapter ready for next week. We're nearing the end of the story… probably four to five chapters left.

Well, last week was my Spring Break and I went to Washington (state) to visit my sister. I really miss her!!!! :( It sucks being to far away from my sis. ::sigh:: Oh well… hopefully she'll fly in and visit this summer. (And to all of you sisters who are rolling their eyes at this sentiment… we used to be the same. But believe me when I say absence makes the heart grow fonder.)

ANYWAYS! Review replies!

****

chelsea c: Err… premature reply, eh? Oh well! And no more growling! I'm going as fast as I can. ;) And… I will not be abandoning this story! Nope nope! It's almost done anyways.

****

SilverWingPhoenix: yupyup! 

****

Simply a Lady: Hope you didn't have those nightmares! And I'm trying to stay away from cliffhanger endings… but there's *kinda* one in this one. :)

Ah yes… Beautiful… I think I recall reading that. :) Pretty good!

****

Henio: Thanx! I'm trying. ;)

****

SaIlOr-EaRtH-001: Thank you! I hope you enjoy this one. :)

****

pamela: I know! I'm so sorry, but lately I've been reading Inuyasha fan fictions… and that obviously is reflected in my writing. Err… I'm trying to put some in, I swear! But Inuyasha and Kagome are so much fun! (So much angst involved in their storyline… a lotta fun to play with! :) )

****

solar-roselover: Thank you! Writing more… writing more!

****

CaraBear: ::sniff sniff:: What did the coughevilcough cliffhanger ever do to you? :) Sorry about the 2 week interval! Hopefully I'll be able to keep up a little better now.

****

iskabod: Thanks, I kinda like my Silver Crystal/Shikon Jewel connection too. :) I'm trying to keep my updates at less than two weeks apart, but I'm a uni student with a heavy load so I try the best I can.

****

KhmerGirl: Thank you! 

****

amanda: Yeah, it's always fun to be mentioned, isn't it? I love it when I'm mentioned, so I try to do it for everyone who is kind enough to review me. 

I can't tell you how *MUCH* your patience and understanding is appreciated! It makes me feel 100% better. But I'll really try not to make you wait too long for the next chapter! ;)

****

amanda (dreamcrystalmagic@yahoo.com): (Sorry about added in the e-mail, but as you can see, there's another amanda above you. :) ). Anyways… I type up and post chapters as soon as I can after I've finished writing them, so I'm really trying here.

I love watching Inuyasha episodes too… as well as the Sailor Moon episodes when they were aired. Too bad they took those off…

****

dragonfly-rising: Thank you! Hope this was quick enough for ya! ;)

Okie dokie! Onto the story… err, for information that may or may not be useless… the last half of this was written during a rather LONG layover in an airport, so hopefully that doesn't affect the quality of my writing or anything. (I was tired at the time.)

And one more thing… I SUCK at writing action, so you won't really be seeing any descriptions around here…

______________________

It took only a matter of moments before the entire population of the camp was emptied and rushing towards the hot springs. When they arrived all they saw was Inuyasha sniffing the air and a towel laying on a rock. And that was the problem - no Kagome.

Kouga sniffed the air too and a growl immediately escaped his throat. "Kagura!"

Inuyasha turned to Kouga upon hearing him. "Can you tell where it goes? I can't - I don't … All I can smell is Kagome's fear," he growled out. Serena noticed that his fists were clenched so hard that blood was beginning to drip down his hands.

Serena turned to Darien. "Transform. Once they have the scent, we've got to go." Darien nodded and was soon Tuxedo Mask. "I - uh, I'm going to put out the fire so that we don't burn the woods down," Serena said before running off. She did make sure that the fire was out - and that their stuff was hidden - but she really went back to camp to transform.

"Moon Prism Power!" she called out, and was once again glad that no male eyes could see her scantily-clad transformation. Once she was Sailor Moon, she raced back to her friends.

When she got back Inuyasha and Kouga were gone. Sango and Miroku were astride Kirara and Tuxedo Mask was waiting for her. She immediately leapt into Tuxedo Mask's arms, and he ran off after Kirara, who had begun following Inuyasha and Kouga the moment Sailor Moon had appeared.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

When she awoke, all Kagome knew was that her head hurt and she was cold. She forced her eyes open, but shut them again in confusion. What she had seen before her seemed to be dark gray shapes rushing past her eyes. With a groan she pushed herself up so that she was sitting.

"If you feel like you're going to fall, lay back down," a voice said monotonously. It was familiar and Kagome opened her eyes to find out who it was.

"Ka - Kagura?" she gasped. It was then that she realized she was flying through the air on Kagura's feather. "What --?" Then Kagome remembered bending down to pick up her towel and feeling a blinding pain explode in her head before passing out.

Kagura looked over her shoulder just enough so that Kagome could see her profile.

"Your half demon was stupid to follow my scent trail."

Kagome stared at her dumbfounded for a moment. "But… we thought you were running scared and had just accidentally left a trail," she finally said.

"I had been." Kagura then faced forward again, and Kagome now had to strain to catch her words before the wind blew them away. "When I returned, Naraku was… angry with me. But then he decided to use it to his advantage. I had to double back and refresh my trail, but stay far enough ahead of you so that my scent was not too new. When an opportunity to kidnap you showed itself, I was to take it. And I did."

Kagome stared at the wind demon's back for a while, trying to sort through this - questions running through her head. She finally decided on the best one to ask first.

"But why? Why me?"

"Naraku needs you," Kagura replied without hesitation, surprising Kagome who had not expected an answer. She decided to press further.

"Why does he need me?"

Kagura did not answer for a long while, but eventually she said, "I do not know for sure, but I suspect it has to do with the jewel. He has been trying to join the shards together, but cannot do it. I think he wants you to fuse the shards into one."

Kagome sat stunned for a moment, half because Kagura was being honest with her - she had a feeling deep down that the woman was truly being honest - and half because of what had been said.

"But - but doesn't he know that I'll purify the jewel if I touch it?" Kagome bluffed. She still had not been able to figure out just exactly how to purify the jewel.

"I am sure that is why he has thousands of demons at his castle. Some must be to kill you once the jewel shards are combined." She said this without an ounce of emotion.

"But I'm a priestess!"

Kagura snorted. "Not a very good one."

Kagome huffed and refused to defend herself to Kagura. After several minutes of silence she had to ask another question.

"Why are you telling me all of this?"

Kagura shrugged, but added a couple of minutes later, "I wish to be free from Naraku. Can you beat him by yourself?"

Kagome gaped at her for a moment. "Uh… uh… by myself? Why not my friends too?"

"They will die, Naraku is making sure of that."

"They won't die!" Kagome said strongly. "We are more and stronger than when you last fought us," she confessed. Kagura said nothing, so Kagome pried further. "Tell me all you know about Naraku's plans, even what you suspect. Anything could help." 

Kagura glanced over her shoulder and nodded.

"Naraku has all but Kouga's shards and your shards ready for you to fuse. As I said, I think you'll be killed once you get the shards fused. There are about one hundred demons waiting for Kouga's arrival, whose sole job is to get the shards from his legs. Inuyasha will be allowed farther because Naraku wants to kill him himself. The demon exterminator will be lured away by Kohaku and the monk will follow her. Several hundred demons are waiting to kill them, along with plenty of poison bees just for the monk."

Kagome took a moment to absorb this all in, fighting down the worry that was beginning to well up for her friends.

"Is their anything else I need to know?"

"Naraku plans to flaunt your dead body in front of Inuyasha in hopes that it'll make him so enraged he'll be without reason - and therefore easier to kill."

"Well, that won't work since I'm not going to die," Kagome said defiantly.

If Kagome could have seen Kagura's face she would have seen a faint smile grace her lips.

Kagome fell silent, no longer able to fight down the worry. She had faith in her friends and knew they would not die, especially with Darien and Serena there to help, but she could not help but to worry.

"We are approaching the castle," Kagura said, interrupting her thoughts.

Kagome looked ahead and could make out the dark clouds of malevolent energy that surrounded an even darker castle. Not even the torches that burned throughout the castle and its grounds seemed to be able to penetrate the clouds. She shivered from the evil that exuded from it.

Kagura partly turned around to look at Kagome. "My… apologies," she said in a completely unapologetic tone.

Before Kagome could ask what for, blackness washed over her once more.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

The night was a windy one. Sailor Moon tucked her face into Tuxedo Mask's neck to protect her eyes from the stinging gusts of wind. She could tell that the wind was slowing him down, because when she ventured a glance at the dark horizon, she could barely make out the flickering flames of Kirara's paws and tails. Tuxedo Mask may be superhuman, but even he could not keep up with the demons when the wind worked against him.

When he lost sight of Kirara's flames, Tuxedo Mask knew that the castle was very near. Not only because Kirara had landed, but also because the feeling of an evil aura was slowly growing. He felt Sailor Moon shudder and tighten her grasp around his neck.

"Are you alright?" he yelled over the wind. He felt her nod her head into his neck. Then she leaned up a bit so her mouth was by his ear so that she would not have to yell.

"Do you feel that aura?" He nodded. "It's horrible. We're up against someone as evil as Beryl here." He did not respond, but he agreed wholeheartedly.

When they finally came upon the castle and Tuxedo Mask was able to let Sailor Moon stand on her own two feet, she took in what was going on around her.

The only one in sight was Kouga, so she assumed everyone else had gone on ahead, until she saw Sango's boomerang flipping through the air off to her left. Kouga was the biggest worry though, because he was fighting what looked like a hundred demons on his own. It appeared that he had been for a least a few minutes for the number of dead around him outnumbered the ones attacking him.

Sailor Moon was about to tell Tuxedo Mask to help Kouga while she went to help Sango and Miroku, but as she turned to him, a movement caught her eye. Kouga, in the middle of a hundred demons, went down. Without a second thought, Sailor Moon reached for her tiara.

"Moon Tiara Magic!" she shouted as she tossed her weapon. She felt satisfied to see the glowing disk decimate a large group of demons. Even as her tiara moved to return to her, a dozen more went down under a barrage of deadly roses. Those demons left alive fled without a backwards glance.

"Kouga!" Sailor Moon shouted worriedly as she ran to his side. She knelt down by him and unsuccessfully tried to get him to remain lying down. "You shouldn't move!" she scolded, but was relieved to see that he was alive.

"I'm fine!" he said forcibly. "But those assholes got my shards!"

Sailor Moon glanced down at his legs. Sure enough, blood soaked through his torn fur leg wraps. 

"Can you walk?" she asked, helping him stand up.

Kouga did a few experimental jumps, and though there was a twinge of pain, it was nothing that he could not handle.

"I'm good."  


"Good," Sailor Moon said, once more relieved. They needed all the fighters they could get. She turned to Tuxedo Mask, who had been behind her the whole time. "You and Kouga go in and try to find Kagome. I'll go help Sango and Miroku."

Tuxedo Mask looked like he wanted to argue, but gave up with a sigh. With a quick kiss and a "Be careful" he and a significantly slower-than-normal Kouga ran deeper into the castle grounds.

Sailor Moon watched them leave and whispered a quick prayer. "Please, whoever is listening, let everyone get out of here alive and safe." She ran off towards the swarm of demons to her left, unaware that one hand rested on her brooch.

When she arrived at the outskirts of the battle she had to pick her way through the remains of hundreds of demons with barely contained disgust. But she kept her mind on the fact that Sango and Miroku needed her help and she plodded ever on.

Once she arrived to the edge of the swarm of demons, Sailor Moon had to find Sango and Miroku in the mess. She kept a hand to her tiara, ready to throw it once she knew her friends were out of the way of its reach. Yet she could not see them and was about to give up and plunge in when something tickled at the back of her mind. A voice - saying something important, something that could help immensely at this point.

"Trust… trust my instincts," Sailor Moon muttered to herself, remembering Sailor Pluto's advice. "Trust my instincts, huh? Well, here goes then. Moon Tiara Magic!" With a grimace she watched the magic disk spin through the horde of demons, splattering blood left and right. Before her eyes the demons' lifeless bodies fell from the sky to reveal Sango, Miroku and Kirara in the epicenter of the battle. But not only them. Also a young boy dressed in a uniform similar to Sango's, yet with bluish trim.

"Kohaku," Sailor Moon whispered once she had figured out who the mysterious boy was. Then she let out a gasp. She had known that Kohaku was under the power of Naraku, but to see Sango's brother attacking his sister with the ferocity of hate that she felt towards Beryl was still a shock. The tears streaming down Sango's face just about broke Sailor Moon's heart, and she could tell that Miroku was feeling the same way.

Sailor Moon began to make her way towards her friends, making sure that Kohaku's back was towards her at all times. Most of the demons left her alone, sensing that she was too powerful for them to mess with. Those that were dumb enough to try were picked off by Miroku's prayer papers, who had noticed her presence long before she killed her first batch of demons. Sango, on the other hand, was oblivious to all but Kohaku and his ever moving weapon.

As she moved closer to Sango and Miroku, she began to feel something nagging at the back of her mind again. She was not sure of what it was, but tried to concentrate on it. As she watched Kohaku's sickle bite down into Sango's arm before being pulled away again, it finally hit her.

"Moon Tiara Magic!"

With a mixture of relief and dismay, Sango watched the disk slice though Kohaku's body. With a cry of horror she tried to run to his side, only to be held back by Miroku.

"Let me go! _Let me go_!" she screamed, trying to wiggle her way from his firm yet gentle grasp.

"Shhh," Miroku whispered soothingly into her ear. "It's okay. Just look at him. Look at him."

Sango finally processed what she was seeing. Instead of her brother's body lying on the ground, it was the body of a chameleon demon still dressed in Kohaku's uniform. She stared at it in shock, her body heaving with her gasped breathing.

"It's, it's not him," she said, still in disbelief.

"I'll explain in a second!" Sailor Moon called over to the couple. "But first, can we kill the rest of these guys?"

Miroku and Sango finally realized that the horde of demons - although significantly smaller than when they had first encountered them - was still there. Miroku let go of Sango and began fighting off demons with his staff since the poison bees were still hovering nearby. Sango picked up her fallen boomerang and tossed it at a thick group of demons. Sailor Moon continued keeping her tiara flying through the air. With all three of them working together, with Kirara's help of course, they were soon standing in a field of demon corpses. 

Sailor Moon made her way to Sango's side and drew her into a hug.

"I'm sorry I didn't have time to warm you about that, but that thing wasn't Kohaku," she said, the remorse evident in her voice.

"I know," Sango said, gladly accepting the hug. "I didn't at first, but I know now. How did you know?"

Sailor Moon let go of Sango as she explained, and Miroku took Sango into his arms.

"Ever since I regained my crystal, I've been able to sense the jewel shards. Not as well as Kagome, but it's there. I didn't realize it at first, but I remembered you saying that Kohaku had a shard, and that thing didn't. At first I thought that maybe he had just lost the shard, but then I realized that there is no way Kohaku would fight you if he was no longer under Naraku's influence, since you've told me that you think he fights against the control sometimes."

"I'm glad it wasn't him," Sango said, nodding. "But why use a look-alike?"

"Because Kohaku doesn't have a shard any longer," Miroku said, slowly figuring out what was going on. Sango tensed up at hearing this. If Kohaku did not have his shard, that could only mean that he was… that he was dead. But she did not have the time to let that sink in for Sailor Moon had figured something out too.

"Oh no!" Sailor Moon shouted.

"What?" Sango asked distractedly.

"Naraku just got Kouga's shards, and he must have Kagome's too!"

At this news, Sango's mind snapped from delving into sorrow to being all business. "He has the whole jewel!" she exclaimed. She tore herself from Miroku's arms and leapt onto Kirara's back. "We've got to get to Naraku before he uses it!"

Miroku joined Sango on Kirara, and Sailor Moon gratefully accepted the offer of a ride too. Kirara shot towards the center of the castle, where a boiling cloud of evil was developing.

Sailor Moon knew more than them though. She knew that Kagome was the only one who could meld the shards together. She also knew that unless Kagome was able to figure out how to purify the jewel, they were all heading towards their deaths.


	21. Chapter Twenty

Hey! Well, I didn't really make you guys wait two weeks, just a week and a half. :) It would have been sooner, but I've run into one problem after another. First my computer starts acting weirder than normal, and then my Internet stops working. Turns out I had like 15 different viruses on my computer. Fun, huh? So, I reformatted my computer and everything is working spiffily now, except… my computer can't find my Ethernet card, so, still no Internet! I'm typing this up from my dorm because I never have enough time at home to type, so there are no review responses. I'll respond to Chapter Nineteen reviews in Chapter Twenty-One. 

One more thing before we get into the chapter… I'm attempting to do a little "detailed" action in this. I'm no good at it, so don't laugh! ;) (Slight warning… bad cliffhanger. :) )

Anyways… onto Chapter Twenty!

_________________________

The pain of waking up for a second time almost made Kagome pass out again. Being hit in the same place twice was not a pleasant experience, and Kagome hoped to never go through that again. With a barely contained groan she sat up, propping herself up by her shaking arms. Only then did she venture to open her eyes.

Hundreds of demons were swarming around her, but keeping their distance in a radius of about a hundred feet. They were being kept at bay by Kagura, who held her fan in battle position. As if she knew Kagome was finally conscious, she turned around, keeping her fan at ready.

"You do not have long," Kagura said, obviously tense. "Kouga is already surrounded, and your demon exterminator friend is fighting with her brother."

"And Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, hoping that he had not come up against Naraku yet.

"He is beyond the demons," she said, gesturing to the wall of demons. "Naraku has not shown up yet, probably because Kouga's shards have not yet been retrieved, but your half-demon is fighting his own host of demons. Naraku is surely keeping him occupied for the time being."

Kagome felt a swell of fear rushing at her. Soon Kouga would go down and Naraku would be coming for her. She would fuse the shards together and then be killed by the waiting demons. Naraku would become too powerful to beat and everyone would die. _Inuyasha_ would die.

Tears burned behind her eyes, her heart was racing and her lungs were refusing to breathe. Her right hand reached up to grasp the jar of shards, and the moment it hit her palm, calm swept over her. No one would die. She would save them all. She just had to figure out how exactly to purify the jewel once it was whole.

"Kagura," she said, her mind beginning to work once again.

"What?" came the clipped reply.

"How long until Naraku gets here?"

Kagura thought for a moment. "Not long. A couple of minutes at the most."

"Damn," Kagome swore, letting a swear word slip for once. Then her loving nature kicked in. "Once Naraku gets here, run." Kagura's normally emotionless face registered surprise. "He won't notice you missing for awhile, and even if he does he won't have time to do anything about it. And if you stick around, one of my friends will kill you, not knowing whose side you are truly on. Just run and be free for as long as you can be."

Kagura was speechless for a moment before coming to a decision. She bowed. No "thank you" no "all right". She just bowed. She - who never willing bowed before anyone - bowed.

Kagome gave her a small smile before laying back down on the hard ground, trying to get comfortable enough to think.

__

"All right, Kagome. How do you purify the jewel shards?

I touch them and they're purified.

But when you first held the jewel in your hands, it wasn't purified. Why?

Because I wasn't purifying it.

Right. So how do you purify the jewel?

I don't know."

Kagome groaned in frustration before forcing her mind back to the task.

__

"Okay, so whenever I have a jewel shard, I purify it but don't know how. What am I thinking when I touch a jewel shard?

That I'm glad the demon is dead. That I'm glad no one was seriously hurt. I'm glad that Inuyasha wasn't hurt. He's strong, but I worry about him all the time…NO! I can't think of him now! I've got to figure this out!"

But she did not have the time to, for a voice interrupted her thoughts. A voice that sent a chill down her spine.

"So good to see you, Kagome."

Kagome slowly sat up and looked up to see Naraku before her. In an instant she was on her feet and backing up as far as she could while still avoiding the wall of demons.

"You are afraid," Naraku said with a smirk. And then he laughed a laugh that grated on her very nerves. "And for good reason." He slowly began to walk towards her, but she stood her ground.

"Such a shame," he said when he was less than an arms length away from her. "Such a shame that such beauty should perish from the world." He cupped her check in his palm, and Kagome stood frozen. She barely registered his movements as his face began to lower to hers. "It doesn't have to," he whispered, his breath brushing across her face. "You could be mine." His lips were a hairsbreadth from hers when she snapped back into reality.

Jerking her head away from his hand and his lips she spat out "Never!"

"So be it," Naraku hissed out, backing away a bit, but not before painfully ripping from her neck the chain that held the jar of shards. He tore the lid from the jar and shook the shards onto his hand. From seemingly nowhere a dozen more shards appeared along with the big chunk that had originally been hers.

Absently rubbing her neck Kagome could not help but to stare at the shards and wonder if Naraku truly now held the entirety of the Shikon jewel in his hand. All of the time spent looking for shards and all of the blood spilt had come to this. Naraku - a being of supreme evil - holding the shards of the Shikon jewel - an object of supreme power.

"Yes, this is all of it," Naraku said, answering her unspoken question. "And you will fuse the shards together for me."

"Who should I?" she asked even though she ached to hold the shards in her hands. Ached to hold the jewel that she knew with all of her being was solely hers.

"If you don't, I will kill him," and Naraku pointed to something to her right. There, in the arms of Kanna, was a limp - but still breathing - Shippou. Naraku had taken him from the campsite while everyone else had been running for the hot springs at Inuyasha's cry. Shippou had been forgotten in the bedlam that followed.

Kagome's heart gave a painful lurch at seeing the fox demon in the arms of the enemy. She forced herself not to show her anxiety to Naraku and turned back to him steel faced.

"You're only going to kill him when I'm dead anyway." She shuddered at how callus she sounded but kept her straight face.

"You would stand there and let him be killed before your eyes?" Naraku asked, seeing through the charade, but Kagome did not move. Naraku turned and pointed a hand towards Shippou. Three poison bees broke from the demons and shot towards Shippou, poisoned stingers aiming for him.

"No!" Kagome shouted, unable to actually watch such a thing.

Naraku flicked his wrist and the bees moved off to rejoin the wall. When he turned back to Kagome there was an arrogant smirk on his face.

"So, you will do as I say," he said rather than asked, and Kagome nodded. When he took her left hand into his she did nothing but flinch. She felt the shards hitting her palm and felt the power they contained but she could not yet tap. Once Naraku let go of her hand, she brought her right hand up to help hold the abundance of shards. She looked up at Naraku, who was looking back at her with impatience.

"I-I," she swallowed dryly and tried again. "I need to be able to concentrate, and I can't if you're standing so close." She winced, expecting an angry outburst, and so was surprised when he merely backed up to stand in front of the far wall of demons.

With a sigh she closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. Instead her mind was still on the problem of purifying the jewel. It was only a moment later when she felt Naraku's aura surge with impatience that she was finally able to think about the task at hand.

As she thought about the jewel being whole, she could actually feel the shards melding together within the sanctuary of her hands. It was all too short of a time later that she felt it was done. Opening her eyes she beheld the whole jewel for the first time in a long time. But Naraku was already moving towards her.

Kagome could feel eyes burning into her from afar. She looked up - past Naraku, past the demons - and finally caught sight of the figure on a low hill that had been looking at her the whole time. She could not see details, but she knew who the red-clad figure was, and who the figures around him were.

Kagome closed her eyes and clasped the jewel in her hands in a futile attempt to save it from Naraku. She silently said goodbye to her friends, and love for them surged through her heart as she prepared to take whatever destiny was going to give her.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

When Tuxedo Mask and Kouga finally caught up with Inuyasha, they found him in the middle of a mass of demons - more demons than any of them had ever seen before. They watched as one "Wound of the Wind" from Tetsusaiga cut down a hundred demons, but barely made a dent in the numbers.

"Inuyasha!" Tuxedo Mask called out as he and Kouga ducked, dodged and dealt death on their way to Inuyasha's side. Said half demon turned and acknowledged them with a nod before swinging Tetsusaiga again. Between hits, ducks, swings and jabs the three men had a conversation of sorts.

"Where's Kagome?" Kouga shouted over to Inuyasha right before he killed a lizard demon with a punch to the throat.

"Bottom of the hill!" Inuyasha shouted back as he used his free hand to flip over to recover from being hit by the tail of a snake demon.

Tuxedo Mask and Kouga looked around, but demons were all they could see. They had not even known they were on a hill.

"Is she okay?" Tuxedo Mask asked, throwing a rose past Inuyasha's head to kill the demon sneaking up behind him.

"What the -?!" Inuyasha yelled as he dodged the rose. Turning around he saw the slug demon impaled by a rose and understood. Turning back to Tuxedo Mask he answered. "She was knocked out. Kagura is standing guard over her but there's a fucking horde of demons surrounding her, waiting for something."

At that time Inuyasha had to crouch down to avoid the swinging arm of a rat demon and as he crouched he saw the blood that was still seeping from Kouga's wounded legs.

"You fucking wolf! You let Naraku get your shards!" Inuyasha screamed as he leapt up and chopped off the rat demon's head with a swing of Tetsusaiga.

"Let nothing, dogturd! I was against hundreds of demons alone!" Kouga yelled in reply.

"And I wasn't?" Inuyasha said, sneering at the wolf demon.

"Sorry that I don't have to overcompensate by having a big sword!" Kouga returned, sneering back. Tuxedo Mask had to hold back a laugh.

Inuyasha was about to go ballistic on Kouga when a golden disk shot past his head and obliterated an ape demon that had been about to smash him upside his head.

"Tuxedo Mask!" a voice from above them shouted. Tuxedo Mask looked up and saw Sailor Moon on the back of Kirara with Sango and Miroku. He opened up his arms and without hesitation Sailor Moon slid off Kirara's back and smoothly landed in his arms. He gave her a quick kiss before letting her down. A moment later Miroku landed ungracefully on his butt next to Tuxedo Mask. Miroku managed to retain in calm composure as he scrambled to his feet. Sango remained on Kirara in the air, where the two of them fought best.

The group of friends took a moment to share a steely look between them and then got down to work. Within five minutes the fighters had efficiently gotten rid of every last demon. 

Looking down at the demons encircling Kagome it was obvious that Naraku had not expected the other mass of demons to be wiped out so quickly. Naraku did not even bother to glance at the hilltop, and if he had, he would have seen the group of friends standing there, with Kouga and Tuxedo Mask just barely holding Inuyasha back.

"Let me go you bastards! Kagome needs me!" Inuyasha yelled as he struggled against the superhuman grips.

"Calm down, Inuyasha," Miroku said soothingly. "Naraku has not harmed Lady Kagome yet and that's a good thing. But if we go barreling down there he'll kill her for sure."

Inuyasha stopped struggling and was obviously not happy about it but he saw the truth of Miroku's words. Luckily for Tuxedo Mask and Kouga, Inuyasha had not seen the almost-kiss between Naraku and Kagome because if he had nothing would have kept him on that hilltop.

"Oh shit!" Kouga shouted. "They have the little fox brat!" he said, pointed down at Kanna. Only Miroku and Sango could not see Shippou but they knew it was true from the looks on their friend's faces. They too felt dread in the pit of their stomachs at the thought of their little friend in the grasp of the enemy.

"I can't believe we forgot about Shippou!" Sailor Moon said, horrified that she could do such a thing.

"She doing it," Miroku said. His voice was quiet but his words rang loudly in their hearts. They knew what he meant. Kagome was fusing the jewel shards into one.

They were all silent as they each watched to the best of their abilities. Inuyasha, Kouga, Kirara, Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon could see with their enhanced vision, although Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon could not see as well as the demons. Sailor Moon could see the glow of the shards joining together, as could Miroku to a lesser extent. Sango alone could see nothing, but she stood watching with her friends anyway.

"It's done," Inuyasha said as he looked at the whole jewel resting in the palms of Kagome's hands. Even though he had longed to see the jewel whole for so long of a time, he could not keep his eyes on it. Instead, he found himself looking at Kagome's face, trying to memorize her beautiful look of awe at that moment in time.

As Inuyasha gazed at Kagome he could have sworn that their eyes met for the briefest moment. But it was only a moment, because she closed her eyes and seemed to brace herself. A moment later he knew why she was bracing herself, for before he knew it she was blocked from his sight by the entire horde of demons swarming to the spot where she stood. In that moment he knew only two things: Kagome was gone, and he had never told her he loved her.


	22. Chapter TwentyOne

Wow. I sat down and wrote this in two sittings, on the same day. I decided that I wanted to give you guys an Easter gift, so I just plugged away until I finished. :) Doesn't hurt that I finally got some inspiration!

Yup! My computer is okay now. I just had to get Windows XP… stupid ME couldn't find my Ethernet card… why that is, I'll never know! 

Now, for two chapters worth of review responses! Because it's 12 in the morning right now, the review responses will be a little more truncated than normal. Sorry, but I've got to get SOME sleep tonight!

Chapter Nineteen

Thanks to: **shadinah**, **SilverWingPhoenix**, **Henio**, **KhmerGirl**, and **caitlyn** for reviewing!!!

****

SaIlOr-EaRtH-001: Hey! Thanks, I love to hear that! :) That is really encouraging!

****

Sugar Spice Girl: I always welcome "new comers"! ;) I'm glad you like the story though!

****

X5-452Star: Yeah… ::hangs head:: err… I chickened out of action scenes. I just can't do it! Oh well… everyone has their strengths and their weaknesses… action scenes are my weaknesses.

****

iskabod: I always put school first, which is why this story suffers sometimes. But, I do the best that I can.

****

amanda: LoL, well, you got extra special treatment then! I was wondering if you were the same, but I didn't want to risk it. :)

****

StarBurst598: Uh, action… right. Umm… I kinda chickened out of writing action. You'll see what I mean.

As for the 'prayer paper' things, I actually do know that they're called ofudas, but if you notice, I never put anything in Japanese from Sailor Moon, so I felt that I shouldn't use any Japanese for Inuyasha either. I'm just trying to keep it all on the same track here.

I never actually meant for my story to be so formulaic, it's just how it ended up. I don't write out outlines when I do stories… maybe I should to avoid that.

Again, hopefully you don't hate me for backing out of the action, but I'd rather just not do it then try and horribly fail.

Chapter Twenty

Thanks to: **SaIlOr-EaRtH-001**, **Henio**, and** Krystal-Jade** for reviewing!

****

Simply a Lady: LoL… uh, did you want more of the story? ;) I'm glad you liked it though. I'm a fan of writing cliffhangers, but not reading them… how hypocritical of me! :)

****

chelsea c: Dead? Did _I_ say anything about her being dead?? ;)

****

Ishkabod: Thank you for wishing me luck. I didn't want to make everyone wait 3 weeks for the next chapter just because of my ::plugs computer's 'ears':: stupid computer.

****

Mai Madness: Hey, thanks! I'm glad you like my writing, I really do try. :)

****

inuyashafan65: I'm glad you approve. ;)

Okay! Well, that didn't take too long, I guess. Now onto the story. Err… there will be an ending author note for those of you wishing to chop off my head. WHAT?! There is no really bad cliffhanger in this one, I promise!

___________________

White. All she could see was white. She tried to blink her eyes, but found she had no eyes to blink with. In fact, she was nothing. No body. No heartbeat. No breath.

__

"I'm dead," Kagome thought, almost surprised that she still _could_ think.

"No, Kagome, you are not dead."

Kagome was startled by the voice that reverberated around her. There was a certain strength behind the decidingly female voice that made Kagome feel insignificant and small.

__

"Who are you? Where am I?"

More questions spun at the back of her mind, but those two were at the forefront.

A figure began to form before Kagome. At first the person was misty, barely there. Then, ever so slowly, it began to solidify.

The person was definitely a woman - a remarkably fit woman with curves in all the right places. She wore engraved armor of silver and her cloak seemed to be of velvet and sable. Her hair fell to just below her shoulder blades. She stood straight and proud. She was regal. She was beautiful. She was

__

"Midoriko!"

"Yes, Kagome. I am Midoriko."

Kagome's mind went blank. What does one say to the woman who has been inhabiting a jewel for so long? Whatever it is, Kagome did not know.

"You may feel more comfortable if you solidify," Midoriko suggested, a soothing quality entering her voice.

__

"How?" was all Kagome could think to think.

"Think of yourself as whole. Remember what it feels like to stand on two feet, to feel your heartbeat, to breathe, to be able to close your eyes."

Kagome did as she said. She thought about feeling solid ground beneath her feet, about her heart beating steadily in her chest, about her lungs expanding and contracting and about the brush of her eyelashes against her cheek as she shut her eyes. And little by little she could actually feel and breathe and blink.

"Well done, Kagome."

"Thank you. Uhh… how do you know my name?"

Midoriko laughed. Kagome was slightly surprised that her laugh was so musical and so light.

"Oh, Kagome!" Midoriko said, a smile gracing her lips. "I have known your name and known of you long before you were born. Long before you ever arrived in this era."

Kagome absorbed this information for a moment.

"So - so Serena was right? The Shikon jewel is actually…?"

"Yours? Yes Kagome. The Shikon jewel is truly your jewel."

Kagome bowed her head, afraid to look at the other priestess.

"But - but I don't deserve it! I broke it, and now, I can't even purify it! I - I don't deserve for it to be mine." Kagome was surprised to feel tears slide down her cheeks. She had not known it was possible to cry here - wherever here is.

She did not hear Midoriko move - was not even aware she had moved - until the slender finger beneath her chin forced her to look up into azure eyes.

"Kagome, _you_ are the holder of the Shikon jewel and you most certainly do deserve to hold it. It was destiny's plan for the jewel to be broken, for if it had not, you never would have been able to purify it." Midoriko let her hand fall to her side.

Kagome thought this over for a moment before something Midoriko had said finally clicked in her mind.

"Wait. You said I purified the jewel." Midoriko nodded. "I purified the jewel?" Kagome said in disbelief. "But - I don't remember… how did I… I don't understand!" She looked at Midoriko beseechingly, silently asking for an explanation, but the priestess said nothing.

Kagome closed her eyes and thought back to the last moments that she could remember. She had seen her friends on the hilltop and had said her silent goodbyes to them, and in those last moments there was no fear, only

"Love," Kagome voiced, opening her eyes to look at Midoriko. "I purified the jewel with love."

"Yes, Kagome, you did," Midoriko confirmed with a nod.

Kagome had to refrain herself from smacking herself on her forehead. "It's so obvious, now that I think about it." She shook her head. "It just makes so much sense now."

"Do not worry yourself about it," Midoriko advised. "You purified it when you were meant to purify it." 

"Destiny?" Kagome guessed.

"Destiny," Midoriko said in agreement.

A silence fell over them for a moment before Kagome realized that she had not yet asked a very important question.

"So what now? I've been here long enough for Naraku to kill me ten times over. Am I dead now?"

"No, you are very much alive. We are between one moment and the next - suspended in time."

"So what now?" Kagome asked again. "The jewel is completed and purified. Does that mean we can beat Naraku now?"

"No."

"No?" Kagome said, unable to hid her dismay. "After all we've been through, Naraku is going to win in the end?" She could feel the tears begin to prickle at the back of her eyes.

"You misunderstand me, Kagome." Midoriko said, using her soothing tone again. "There will be no 'we'. _You_ will be the one to defeat Naraku. It is your destiny to do so, while it is your friends' destinies to help you along the way."

"_I'm_ going to defeat Naraku?" Kagome squeaked out. "Alone?"

"You will defeat Naraku, but you will not be alone."

Kagome looked at Midoriko, and slowly she grew determined not to let this woman down.

"How do I use the jewel?"

"You are now linked with the jewel, and it will guide you along the way. You just have to listen to what it is saying."

Kagome was confused for a moment, but then she began to understand. "Like with Serena and her crystal - how sometimes she just knows things."

"Correct."

With this cleared up the two women stood facing each other. One unsure of what to say, the other waiting for her companion to say the right thing.

"That's it then, isn't it?" Kagome said. "I know all you're going to tell me, and there's no more to say. This is goodbye."

"There is something else to say," Midoriko said. "Thank you. Thank you for letting me be at rest."

Kagome was surprised for a moment, before shaking her head. "No need to thank me. In fact, thank you. I know you had nothing to do with this all - really. I mean… you created the jewel and all, but destiny choose me," Kagome shook her head. "Sorry, I'm rambling. I… just - thank you."

Midoriko looked bemused at Kagome's rambling, but then she smiled a heartfelt smile. "I understand, but there is no need to thank me either."

Kagome returned the smile. Then, on impulse, she hugged the ancient priestess. Midoriko's eyes widened for a moment before returning the hug with a soft smile.

Kagome pulled back after several moments and sighed.

"All right, I guess I'm ready to go face my destiny."

Midoriko appraised the girl and though she seemed a little unsure, she was also determined. Yes, she was ready.

"There is one more thing, Kagome," Midoriko said. Kagome looked at her - question obvious in her eyes. "There is the matter of your wish."

"My - my wish?" Kagome stuttered, not thoroughly confused. "What wish?"

"The Shikon jewel is a jewel of power, Kagome. The holder of a jewel of power is granted a wish." Midoriko waited for this to sink in. "So, what is your wish?"

Kagome closed her eyes and went over every wish she had ever dared to hope for. Finally she settled on the perfect one.

"That is a worthy wish, Kagome. So it shall be."

Kagome's eyes snapped open in surprise. She had not spoken the wish out loud.

"It's really… really granted?" she asked.

"It is," Midoriko said, giving her a smile. A huge grin broke out on Kagome's face.

"Thank you!"

"You are welcome. Now, Kagome, it is time for you to return to time."

"I - okay," Kagome said, taking a deep breath, preparing herself for what was to come.

The two women smiled at each other one last time before Kagome's reality shifted.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Pain. She felt pain first and foremost. Although she was ready to return to reality, she had forgotten the headache that had developed earlier, and now it was all she could feel.

__

"Not now, Kagome. There's more things to worry about than a headache," she thought to herself. In a matter of seconds she had pushed the pain to the back of her mind and took a moment to take in her surroundings.

The wall of demons had converged until she was completely surrounded by them on all sides and above her. But they continued to keep back.

"Ah, my little priestess accomplished my task," Naraku said with a smirk that sent shivers down her spine. "Now, give me the jewel."

"Never," Kagome said, and she was proud of herself for keeping all anxiety out of her voice. In an even stronger tone of voice she continued. "The jewel is mine, Naraku. You can no longer take it. It is out of your reach."

Naraku actually seemed shocked for a moment before anger overtook his whole being. His aura flared in his anger until Kagome was completely surrounded by the evil. She felt sick at the feel of the evil, but with the jewel safely in her hands, she knew she was fine.

Naraku was about to say something when an ear piercing shriek came from the wall of demons. They both knew that her friends were outside, fighting to get to them. Kagome knew it was only a matter of moments before Naraku attacked her, so she began to listen for the jewel as Midoriko had told her to.

At first there was nothing and panic began to eat at her shield of calm. She brought her hands up and clasped the jewel to her heart. One moment passed and then another. And then she began to hear. There was no voice speaking to her directly, but rather knowledge that she had not known before was suddenly in her mind.

As if in slow motion she saw Naraku begin to move towards her, a dozen tentacles aimed at her body. She held the jewel out before her, still clasped in both hands, and let go. It stayed within the space between her hands, but it floated there, just as the crystal does for Sailor Moon. Naraku saw this and stopped in his tracks.

"What is the meaning of this?" he roared in his confusion.

"This means, Naraku, that you are going to die." Kagome's voice was so calm and so sure that it actually struck a chord of fear in him.

"I think not!" Naraku said, motioning for the demons to begin attacking her. They never got close to her though, for there was an almost invisible shield surrounding her. Naraku saw this and knew that if he stayed, he would die.

"You're not going anywhere," a voice said to his right. He turned his head and saw a strangely dressed woman standing there. How she alone had gotten past the demons he would never know. He was about to send several tentacles her way when a crystal appeared between her hands. A spark of panic was born in him when he realized he could no longer move, but he was not done yet. He reached out with his mind and called for his minions to help, sure that Kagura and Kanna would come to his aid. But moments ticked past and he began to realize he was truly going to die. He was determined to at least take the half breed's priestess with him.

Kagome was relieved to see Sailor Moon show up and was thankful when the crystal appeared. She somehow knew that Sailor Moon was holding Naraku in place, but leaving the attacking up to her. She relaxed and let the jewel take the power it needed from her to augment its own. Even as the first pulses of power were flowing towards Naraku, a wave of evil energy crashed into her. She faltered for just a moment, but then held firm. Naraku's last ditch effort to take someone down with him had failed.

By the time the rest of the group had picked off the last demons, Naraku was on his knees. Inuyasha stared at the sight in front of him almost in awe. Sailor Moon seemed to be sending a soft power towards Naraku, but the major surge of power was coming from Kagome and the Shikon jewel. As she stood there - jewel in hands, torn clothes and strain evident on her face - she had never looked more beautiful to him.

It was anticlimactic how it happened. One moment Naraku was sending weak waves of evil towards Kagome and the next he was nothing but black dust floating softly to the ground.

"Dusted!" Sailor Moon said, accurately describing the scene. "Way to go Kagome!" she then called over to her friend. Kagome smiled back weakly, but happily. Her jewel was once again clasped in her hands to her chest. She moved her eyes from Sailor Moon and searched for only a moment before finding who she was looking for. And he was at her side in a second flat.

"Inuyasha," Kagome said, looking up into the golden eyes of the half demon she loves.

"Kagome," he said back softly. He wanted to sweep her into his arms and hug her forever, but he was afraid to touch her, afraid to hurt her. She solved his dilemma for him by shyly wrapping her arms around him, her jewel still in hand. His arms were holding her immediately.

"I thought you were dead," he whispered into her hair.

"It thought I was dead too, actually," Kagome said with a little giggle.

Inuyasha remembered how he had felt watching from the hilltop. With a deep breath he moved his hands to her shoulders and pushed her back so that he could look into her eyes.

"Kagome, I - I … uhh…" he stammered ineloquently. "Oh fuck it," he muttered and a moment later his lips were covering hers in a soft kiss. Before Kagome could recover from her shock enough to kiss back, he pulled away and pulled her into a hug again. "Kagome, I love you."

When she did not respond panic clawed at his heart, until he realized that she was strangely limp in his arms. He pushed her back and lifted her up into his arms. 

"Stupid wench, always falling asleep at the wrong time."

_____________

As I said with in the story, anticlimactic. Why did I do it this way? Because 1) I can't write action scenes! (As I've told you all before) and 2) because everyone has a big battle at the end. I want to be unique, okay?

And, yes, the story is wrapping up. There's probably only 1 or 2 chapters left and then an epilogue. When I'll be able to get these out, I don't know. I've only got roughly two weeks left of school, and then I go home. When I'm at home opportunities to write are scarce. But I'll try!


	23. Chapter TwentyTwo

Hey, took me long enough, huh? Well, take how frustrating it's been for you to wait and multiply that by about 20 and that's how frustrating it was for me. Why? Because it took this long for me to get away from my parents long enough to type this up! And it took me moving into my own apartment to even get the time. :)

Now, many apologies, but I have no review responses because I'm not set up for internet yet. But I really want to thank everyone for reviewing and being patient with me and everything. You were all wonderful and inspiring!

Just a note… you'll notice that there are tons of openings for sequels and such to this story, but I _will not_ be writing any sequels to this story. There are some things that are just meant to be ambiguous.

Now, without further ado… enjoy the ending of Altered Destinies!!

An hour later found the friends back at their camp. Naraku's castle had dissipated not long after he had died, but a lingering aura of evil made the group of friends feel the need to leave as soon as possible.

No one really knew what to say to each other. They had always imagined they would celebrate once Naraku was dead - as long as they were all alive - but here they were. Naraku was dead, they were alive, and they were quietly sitting around a fire.

Sango, Miroku and Kirara were sitting next to each other on one side of the fire. Miroku held Sango's hand in his right one - finally bare of cloth and prayer beads. Although he wanted to celebrate, he held in his joy in deference to Sango's mourning of Kohaku's death.

Serena and Darien were cuddled together next to Miroku, and Serena was lightly napping. Shippou was curled up against Kagome's stomach and both were deep asleep.

Inuyasha sat next to Kagome, watching over them all. Kouga had left them, saying that he had to get back to his pack. But he had refused to leave until Serena had assured him that Kagome would be okay, that she was just sleeping to regain the energy the jewel had used. Said jewel was still clutched in Kagome's hand and no one even tried to take it away.

They all stayed this way as day faded into night and sleep finally began to edge on everyone. So when the bushes around them began to rattle, it took a moment for everyone to become alert enough to get on the defensive.

"Stand down!" a loud voice boomed. It was loud enough to startle Kagome and Shippou from their sleeps. When Kagome sat up and blinked the sleep from her eyes what she saw made her rub her eyes in disbelief.

Sesshomaru stood at one end of the clearing holding Rin in his arms and behind him stood a very much alive Kohaku.

"Kohaku!" Sango cried, jumping up and running to her brother despite who he stood behind. "You're alive! How?" she asked as she pulled him into a tight hug.

"Sesshomaru-sama cut him with his sword!" Rin chirped from her spot in Sesshomaru's arms.

Sango looked up at the profile of the demon lord. "You used Tensaiga?" she whispered in thankful awe.

By this time Inuyasha was standing guard in front of a shakily-standing Kagome. Although his hand rested on the hilt of Tetsusagia, he made no move to unsheathe it. Instead, he swallowed his pride and said the two words he never thought he would ever say to Sesshomaru.

"Thank you. Thank you Sesshomaru, for bringing Kohaku back to life." He received a nod in reply, and he would forever swear that there had been a ghost of a smile too.

"Yes, thank you Sesshomaru. Thank you so much!" Sango said, tears in her eyes. She too received a nod in reply.

Serena stood up, stretched and brushed off her skirt. "Lord Sesshomaru," she said in greeting.

He bowed to her as well as he could with Rin in his arms in return.

"Thank you for coming, but as you know we ended up not needing your services," Serena said, ignoring her friend inquiring looks.

"I beg your pardon, but it seems my services were greatly required," Sesshomaru replied with a pointed glance towards Kohaku.

"I stand corrected," Serena acquiesced.

"All right, what's going on?" Inuyasha asked as calmly as he could, but everyone could tell that he was irritated he did not know what was going on.

Serena turned to him and smiled. "I summoned Lord Sesshomaru to come to our aid," she explained.

"But how did you do so, Lady Serena?" Miroku asked.

"Since he is technically a Moon Dog, I am able to summon him at any time."

Everyone nodded in understanding, except for Sango - who was too busy hugging Kohaku and crying to pay much attention to what was going on around her.

"Lord Sesshomaru," Miroku said, garnering Sesshomaru's attention. "How did you come to save Kohaku's life?"

"When I came upon the area where Naraku's stronghold had been there were no signs of life. I looked around to see if I could find the bodies of anyone I recognized, but found no one until I came upon the area where Naraku's scent had the most hold. It must have been where his antechamber had once been. I saw a human arm sticking out from the soil and so lifted the body. It was the boy, so I used Tensaiga."

No one had been expecting Sesshomaru to reply to Miroku's question and they definitely had not expected any explanation to be so long winded. There were also some holes in Sesshomaru's story that no one wanted to comment on. Why was he looking for their dead bodies in the first place and why would he save Kohaku's life in the second place. Rin was the one to answer the latter of the questions.

"Rin's happy that Sesshomaru-sama saved Kohaku's life because Kohaku is Rin's friend!" Rin said with a big grin.

"I must take my leave," Sesshomaru said. "Jaken is waiting for me with Ah-Un."

"Thank you once again for bringing Kohaku back to life," Serena said, bowing to the demon-lord.

Sesshomaru did a half bow - almost as if he had caught himself bowing to a human twice in one day and had stopped himself just in time - before turning around and leaving, Rin still in his arms.

Of the group only Miroku, Sango and Kohaku did not notice Sesshomaru's departure. Sango and Kohaku were still in one another's arms, crying out of joy. Miroku was hovering over them, eager to greet Kohaku and have his happy Sango back. Kirara was with them also, curled up on Kohaku's shoulder - purring despite the tears.

Shippou watched as Sesshomaru walked away from view. Then he turned to look at his friends. Miroku and Sango were occupied and would obviously no be available to play. Serena was standing in front of Darien and he had his arms wrapped around her waist. They both seemed to be thinking hard about something and he was not about to interrupt a Moon Princess's thoughts. When he turned to Kagome and Inuyasha he found that they were gone. With a sigh he shrugged and curled back into Kagome's warm sleeping bag. Moments later he was asleep.

----------

Serena watched as Sesshomaru walked away and felt a pang of sadness wash over her. She had only met him once before - and it had not been an entirely pleasant meeting - but she already knew that she would be missing out on knowing an amazing person - or demon. In the short time between the meetings he had already changed. He held Rin unabashedly. He was not terribly condescending. He acknowledged her superiority. He saved Kohaku's life and openly told the story of finding him. Sesshomaru had indeed changed - and she would miss seeing his further changes - however long they took. But that brought a question to mind.

"Muffin?"

"Hmm?" he replied - still deep in his own thoughts.

"What do we do now?" she asked, tilting her head to look up at him.

"What do you mean?" he asked, tilting his own head down to met her gaze.

"What if - once we get back to the well - we can't go through?" she asked, shutting her eyes as if she were trying to shut the thought from her mind.

Darien pondered her question for several minutes. He too had been wondering the same thing. Finally he said the only thing he could say.

"Then we live here. We'll both miss home, but I can be happy anywhere, just as long as you are with me."

Serena spun around in Darien's arms and kissed him. It was a sweet and gentle kiss that accurately conveyed her feelings - that she too could be happy anywhere, just as long as he was by her side.

----------

It did not take long for Kohaku to fall into an exhausted sleep. His day had been eventful after all. What with dying and being brought back to life to reunite with his sister and all.

Sango was too excited to sleep though, and Miroku was content to stay awake with her.

"How are you feeling?" Miroku broached to say.

Sango turned to look at him. Her eyes were slightly swollen from her tears and her cheeks were still slightly damp, but her eyes were shining with happiness. She broke out into a beautiful smile that almost took Miroku's breath away. And then, to his surprise, Sango threw herself into his arms.

"Oh Miroku! Kohaku is alive! I'm no longer the last demon exterminator alive! And now our kids will have an uncle and Kohaku will have a brother and I will have a family!" she babbled to him.

Miroku was too shocked to say anything for a long while. He was eventually able to ask what he wanted to ask.

"Sango?" he choked out. "Are you saying that you want to be with me? That you will marry me?" Despite their developing relationship, it still surprised him that she truly loved him.

Sango looked up at him, worry in her eyes. "D-don't you feel the same way?"

He answered her with a kiss full of passion. When they pulled away several minutes later he rested his forehead on hers and through his panting breath said, "I love you, and I will marry you as soon as you are ready."

It was Sango's turn to initiate the kiss.

----------

It had not taken long until Kagome had to hold onto the back of Inuyasha's haori just to remain standing. As soon as Sesshomaru had turned his back to leave and Inuyasha was sure he meant no harm, Inuyasha had Kagome in his arms and was leaping away.

"What are you doing?!" Kagome squeaked out, but Inuyasha did not answer until he had stopped and had gently set her down on the soft grass.

"You need to rest and Sango and Kohaku were sure to keep you awake," he said as he crouched before her.

"But I'm not tired!" Kagome said, but her statement was ruined by a big yawn. Inuyasha gave her a pointed look. "All right, all right. Maybe I am tired, but I don't want to sleep right now."

"Why not?"

"Because… because it's a time to celebrate! Naraku is dead and gone and out of our lives. Kohaku is alive. The jewel is completed and is more powerful than we ever imagined. And now we can all just live in peace and be together.

Inuyasha stared at Kagome for a long while. When she realized what she had just said a blush graced her cheeks. Finally Inuyasha said, "Be together? We can… we can be together?" It was hard for him to say and he was blushing fiercely, but he had to say it.

"You know I want to be by your side," Kagome said, looking at the ground. Then she forced herself to lift her head and meet Inuyasha's eyes. "Inuyasha… I love you too."

He stared at her wide-eyed, not believing his ears. "You - you love me." She nodded. "I love you, and you love me and we want to be together. " He said incredulously. Kagome laughed and nodded.

Inuyasha could not stop himself - did not _want_ to stop himself - from pulling Kagome into his arms and kissing her. And this time Kagome kissed back. And this time the kiss contained all the passion each felt for the other.

----------

The night was fully dark by the time everyone was settling down to sleep. Serena and Darien were curled up together as they always were. Sango slept with Kohaku curled up next to her like a little boy. Miroku slept next to her but not quite touching her in deference to Kohaku. Inuyasha was sitting against a tree with Kagome curled up in his lap. Although their feelings were now known, Inuyasha was not comfortable yet sleeping with Kagome lying down.

A serene aura was surrounding the entire camp - a security that could only be brought on by knowing that no one in the world could hurt them at the moment. And no one could. And no one did.

Morning dawned clear and bright and peaceful. But the friends slept on until well into the morning. They were in no hurry that day nor in the subsequent days. They stayed up late and slept in late and took their time getting back to the village. As they traveled along they talked and laughed and were all smiles and good cheer - while avoiding any mention of Serena and Darien leaving them forever. Or the possibility of Kagome also leaving them and never being able to make it back.

They finally returned to the village almost two weeks after they had completed their mission. It was not a triumphant return by any means. The villagers worked in the fields and tended gardens and paid no attention to the returning heroes - they were long used to the comings and goings of the group of friends. Even Kaede showed no excitement when they entered her hut. She did not even look up from the tending of her herbs.

"Welcome home," was all she said. She only looked up when the heavy silence got to her, and the first thing she laid eyes on was the completed jewel hanging around Kagome's neck.

"So it is done," she said calmly. "And Naraku?"

"Dead," Inuyasha said.

"Good. Kikyo is avenged." Kaede said, and looked around her room, as if searching for something or someone. That is when the friends realized just how much Kaede did not know about what had occurred while they were gone. So they settled down and began telling their stories.

Two hours later Kaede was caught up on everything that had happened. She was saddened to hear about Kikyo's demise but held no grudge against Serena. She showed no surprise about Serena and Darien's alter egos - in fact she told them that she had suspected that they were hiding something. She was surprised to hear about Kagome's jewel and asked to hold it. When she handed the jewel back her hands were shaking from the power that coursed through the jewel.

"With that jewel, child, ye will be able to keep yeself and the village safe from harm."

"Keh," Inuyasha said, but Kagome was able to interpret his 'Keh'.

"With Inuyasha by my side, I don't have to worry about anything," she said, and reached over to take his hand.

Kaede stared at their hands for a long moment. Sango and Miroku and Serena and Darien had been showing signs of their relationships the whole time, but this was the first sign Kaede had seen from Kagome and Inuyasha. No one spoke a word until Kaede finally smiled and nodded at the two - who immediately relaxed.

"And Kohaku," Kaede said to the young boy who had been quiet all along. "I want you to feel free to make this village your home. No one judges another's past here."

Kohaku looked up at Kaede and nodded - a ghost of a smile tugging at his lips.

"Serena and Darien - you two are welcome to stay as long as you wish," Kaede added.

Said couple glanced at each other and Serena solemnly said, "We're going to stay the night and try to leave in the morning."

Kaede nodded and then slowly stood up so that she could begin supper, for day was already fading into night.

No one slept much that night. Although everyone tried to keep the atmosphere light, sadness weighed heavily on everybody, for they all knew that they would never again see Serena and Darien.

Talk went from what everyone planned to do next, to recounting past adventures, to pondering over what exactly Serena's crystal and Kagome's jewel were capable of. Anything and everything was touched on except for the impending goodbyes. But - as time has a tendency to do - night flew by and morning came upon them all too soon. Before they knew it they were finishing up breakfast and slowly making their way to the well.

Fifteen minutes later they finally came upon the well and as they came to a stop it was obvious that no one wanted to make the first necessary step. After several moments of motionless silence, Serena took it upon herself to take the first step. With a sigh she moved in front of the well and turned around so that she was facing her friends.

Giving them a small smile, she said, "I'm going to miss you all terribly," she began. She had to swallow a lump in her throat before she could continue. "But I will never forget you guys. When I first came here I thought it was a big mistake, but now I know that it was destiny for Darien and I to fall through the well. By coming to the past we rediscovered our own pasts and fell in love all over again. And I-I've become a stronger person and now I know that my scouts are my friends through and through," with that she walked up to Inuyasha and hugged him. It shocked everyone when the half demon immediately hugged her back.

That started off the rounds of hugs to the departing couple - and not just a few tears. It was once again Serena who pulled away first.

"All right," Serena said with a watery laugh, wiping away a stray tear. "Enough of this melodrama! We should get going."

Darien stepped up to her and grabbed her hand. "We'll never forget any of you," he said, and Serena nodded.

As one they stepped onto the edge of the well. Before jumping, Serena looked over her shoulder at Kagome.

"Remember - meet us at the Crown Arcade at three in four days," Serena said, and Kagome nodded. She would be staying behind for another day or two so that she and Inuyasha could work out some things.

With that, but with streaming tears, Serena and Darien leaped into the well and disappeared from the Feudal Era forever.

----------

Serena and Darien landed softly on the bottom of the well and a quick look up told them that they were back in their own era. But they were going nowhere fast, because Serena was crying too hard to climb out of the well. So Darien just held her, making soothing noises.

"Darien?" Serena said softly into his shoulder.

"Hmm?"

"Do you think that if we had tried jumping into the well together in the first place back then that we would have made it back?"

Darien thought this over for a moment chuckling. "You're a genius sometimes," he said and kissed her on her forehead. "But do you wish we had tried that then?"

"No," she said without hesitation. "I wouldn't give up the last couple of weeks for the world."

"Me neither." With a sigh Darien stood up, bringing Serena to a stand with him. "We should probably get going.

They made it out of the shrine without running into anyone. As they walked to Darien's apartment - where he would get his car and drive Serena home - Serena realized that the five miles were nothing. She also realized that she had really changed. She was no longer whiny nor scared to face her enemies. She had a boyfriend - who had been her worst enemy not too long ago - and she had more powers than she had ever dreamed possible. She was ready to take on the world.


	24. Epilouge

Four days later Serena was lucky to get out of the house. She may have been ready to take on the world but she had grossly underestimated how overprotective her parents could be. Granted, she had disappeared for a couple of weeks without word and came back with a story of being in the Feudal Era, and being not only Sailor Moon but also the Moon Princess _and_ dating a guy six years her senior that she had quite a past with. It took a lot of convincing (and a few transformations and demonstrations) to make her parents believe her. They did not like the idea of her being a warrior - and her Dad hated Darien already, even though he was yet to meet him - but they promised to keep an open mind.

It was amazing she was not grounded, but she just as well had been because she had not been out of the house since returning - not even to see her friends. In fact, no on knew she was back yet. The reason being - a couple of weeks worth of homework to catch up on by Monday - two days away.

But she was now at the arcade, ready to see Kagome again. Even though it was only a short while since she had seen her, she was really looking forward to the meeting.

Looking around the seats she could not see a lone girl sitting in a bench waiting for her as had been planned, but she did see a bench with four familiar heads of hair.

Giddy excitement filled Serena as she made her way towards her friends. She had missed them so much over the weeks and she had so much to tell them. Thoughts of where to begin and what exactly to say filled her head, so when two arms shot out and pulled her into an unfamiliar lap, all she could do was let out a tiny squeak.

Serena looked into the face of the man whose lap she sat in. It was familiar - very familiar. Looking around the table she was more familiar faces. Her mouth gaped open as the tried to form words that just would not come out. Finally she just threw her arms around the man's neck and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back, just as tight.

"I missed you, Lady Serena."

"I missed you too, Miroku," Serena mumbled into his neck. Then she pulled back and looked at the woman next to him.

"Sango! You look wonderful! But how are you two here? I thought you guys couldn't get through the well."

"They can't," Kagome said from across the table.

Serena turned to look at her. She stared for a long moment and slowly things began to fall into place. Sango and Miroku did not appear out of place at all in their modern clothes. Inuyasha seemed to have an aura of calm and contentment he had not had four days ago. But the final piece was Kagome. She held herself in a way Serena had not seen her do before. And she also seemed to gave aged ten years in four days - making her look like a twenty-five-year-old.

"You never made it back through the well, did you?" Serena asked, and saw a flash of grief in Kagome's eyes.

"No, I didn't."

"So - you have all been alive for… five hundred years?" Kagome nodded. "But - how?"

"When I was talking to Midoriko, she said she could grant me one wish. And the wish I held dearest in my heart was to be able to be with my friends forever," Kagome explained.

"We didn't realize until years later that forever truly means forever," Inuyasha added.

Serena turned to Inuyasha and took a good look at him. There was something not quite right with him. His silver hair was tied at the nape of his neck and his golden eyes stared at her curiously. Then it hit her. "Your ears!"

He grinned at her. "They're still there, it's all just an illusion."

"Good," Serena grinned back. "Because I love your ears!"

"So do I," Kagome said, and Inuyasha grinned at her.

"So, what have you all been up to for five hundred years?" Serena asked, unsure of what to say. She knew she was taking this amazingly well, but she had seen enough strange things lately to be able to take even this in stride.

"Oh, you know… traveling…" Sango said.

"…getting married…" Kagome said, looking at Inuyasha with a loving smile.

"…having kids," Miroku ended with a self-satisfied grin.

"You two have kids?!" Serena squealed.

"Five," Sango said proudly. "Three of them are grown - we even have some great - great - grandkids. One is getting married soon and the last is just five-years-old."

"We have six pups," Inuyasha said proudly.

"Two grown, one getting married to Sango and Miroku's son, one is just traveling the world and we have three-year-old twins at home," Kagome said.

"Wow!" Serena said. Even though she knew her friends were old, they still looked way too young to have grown kids.

"So did your wish extend to your children too then?"

"Yeah," Kagome said. "And it encompassed our kid's mates and their children and so on. And beyond."

Before Serena could ask what she meant by that, a man stepped before her. She looked at him - at his auburn hair and teal eyes. It took a moment for her to realize who she was looking at.

"Shippou!" she shrieked and launched out of Miroku's lap and into Shippou's arms.

That one shriek got the attention of four girls in a bench in the back of the arcade and soon chaos reigned.

"Serena!" her friends shouted and ran to her. They practically attacked her - throwing themselves at her and pulling her into a hug. Mina stood back since she did not really know Serena, but she had a big grin on her face.

"Where have you been?!"

"Why didn't you contact us?!"

"How could you leave us like that?!"

"How long have you been back?!"

"Who are these people?!"

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!"

The questions came at her so fast that she was not sure who was asking what, except for the last one, which was yelled by three girls at once.

"Calm down!" Serena said, waving her hands, trying to placate her friends. "I'll explain everything later, I promise," she said. "But first, introductions are to be made. Girls, I want you to meet some close friends of mine. This is Kagome, Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku and Shippou. Guys, these are my friends I was telling you about. Rei, Ami, and Lita. And this is Mina, although we haven't really met yet either."

Everyone waved to each other, and Rei was about to say something when a commanding voice stopped her.

"Aren't you going to introduce me?"

Serena whirled around to find herself nose to chest of an - obviously - tall man. She looked up to find a human-looking Sesshomaru looking down at her. He had retained his long, silver hair and his piercing golden eyes, but his markings were hidden, except for his crescent moon, which even then was visible only to her.

Before Serena could speak, Sesshomaru was down on one knee and had her hands in his, his forehead bowed - touching her hands.

"My lady, I wish to thank you for freeing me from my frigid bonds of cruelty and unmoving emotions. If it had not been for you, I would not be happy today. I owe you the world for your kindness." With that he tilted his head and looked into Serena's eyes. She could see a softness in his eyes that she had never imagined could exist in the cold Lord. She could also see the sincerity behind his words.

Serena gently removed her hands from his grip and adopted a serious face. "Lord Sesshomaru of the Western Lands, I hereby release you of your duty to me and my kin. You and yours are to be forever free of servitude to the Kingdom of the Moon. Go forth and be free, my Lord."

The gratitude on his face was thanks enough, but when the crescent moon on his forehead faded away, he stood and pulled her into a crushing hug. It was a quick hug and after a smile and a kiss to the cheek, he swept out of the arcade.

"Well, that was a quick exit," said a familiar voice.

"Muffin!" Serena squealed, leaping into Darien's waiting arms. She pecked him on the lips before turning to Inuyasha.

"Why did Sesshomaru leave so quickly?"

Inuyasha grinned. "He has a pregnant wife in France who can't travel right now. He came here just to see you," he told Serena.

"Wife? Sesshomaru? Who?!" Serena asked, shocked.

The four seated friends looked at each other with secretive grins before Kagome answered.

"Kagura."

"Kagura?!" Serena and Darien said in disbelief.

"For some reason, I always figured he'd end up with Rin," Serena added.

"Well, it's all a long story, but Sesshomaru and Kagura ended up together, and Kohaku and Rin ended up together. They're all good friends. In fact, Rin's pregnant too," Sango said.

"You guys have some stories to tell!" Serena said, causing Sango and Kagome to giggle and nod.

"And so do you!" Rei shrieked, upset to be forgotten in the chaos. "To begin with, what is going on, who was that guy, why were you spouting the proper stuff to him and why did you kiss Darien!?"

"And, uh, how did you know my name?" Mina piped in with a confused grin.

"All a part of the story," Serena said to Mina. Then she turned to Rei. "Rei, can we all go to your shrine? We need a private place to talk."

With Rei's permission the rather large group began to walk to her shrine. Along the way Serena kept looking ahead of her to her friends and scouts, and behind her to her friends from her literal past. They were all so different from one another yet she was friends with all of them. Even though the two group's age differences were so vast, she knew that they would all eventually be friends. And who knew? Maybe they now had a few extra fallback fighters in a pinch - if they're fighting days had not been left with the adventures of parenthood.

"What are you thinking about so hard," Darien whispered into her ear, breaking her thoughts.

"I'm thinking that I have never been happier and that I am really thankful that I got onto the wrong bus that day."

Darien smiled down at her, pulled her to his side and kissed her temple. Even though she had not really thought about what she was saying as she was saying it, she suddenly realized that it was true. If she had not gotten onto that bus, she would have never fallen into the Feudal Era with Darien and met Kagome and her friends. She may have never discovered she was the Moon Princess, and may have never fallen in love with her enemy. Yes, she would forever be thankful for having such a bad day that day.


End file.
